


In the Stars

by Cassie_Bones



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex starts tiny and very very gay, Also includes SuperLena, Everybody is gay, F/F, Kara comes to earth at an earlier age, Maggie is tinier and much gayer, Starts with Sanvers, but later on, childhood AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2018-09-08 07:25:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8835568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassie_Bones/pseuds/Cassie_Bones
Summary: The first time Alex sees Maggie, they're six and Maggie's the new, weird kid in class with big dimples and far too many bandaids littering her body. All Alex wants is to be liked and have friends and all Maggie wants is to be Alex's friend.





	1. First Grade

**First Grade - 1996**

They're twenty days into the first grade when Miss Kane announces that they have a new student joining them. Alex, who sits in the back of class with most of the boys, eyes the new girl with curiosity. She's tiny and her skin is tan and she has deep dimples in her cheeks. Her arms and legs and parts of her face are littered with bandaids (Alex can clearly see the 'Superman' insignia on them) and she smiles wide as she waves to the class and introduces herself as Maggie Sawyer, from Nebraska.

Alex starts to smile and wave back at her - because her parents have always taught her to be friendly - but then she hears the jokes some of the boys are already starting to make to each other and catches the looks that the girls ahead of her are giving to her bandaids and the way they eye the simple, checkered dress and Mary Janes she's wearing and she can feel when the entire class makes the decision not to like this strange Nebraskan girl or her dimples. Alex doesn't understand why, but she finds herself agreeing with them. Maggie is weird. She doesn't like Maggie.

She doesn't.

But then Maggie begins to follow her around at recess, ignoring the other kids that throw taunts at her and call her 'Mummy' because of all her bandaids. She smiles at Alex and she's all dimples, but Alex reminds herself about the girls that are her friends now - the ones that tell her that Maggie is a freak, that they don't like her - and all the boys that laugh at her and how she can't really afford to risk them. Not for Maggie. No matter how nice she seems.

Her parents also taught her never to be mean, but they never said that she  _has_ to be nice. So she ignores Maggie, but she never calls her names or pushes her, like the other girls do. That doesn't stop Maggie from trying, though.

One day, just after Halloween, Alex is sitting alone next to the basketball court, watching the boys play 2-to-1, when Maggie walks up to her, toting a pumpkin full of chocolate. She offers it to Alex. "Wanna share my Halloween candy?"

Alex glances up at her and shakes her head, silently, then she turns back to watch the boys play, hoping that Maggie will get the hint.

Of course, she doesn't. She sits right next to Alex and takes out a full-size Snickers bar, carefully unwrapping it. She takes a bite and watches the boys for a while, too. Then, suddenly, a thought occurs to her. "Why don't you go play with them?" she asks. 

"Girls don't play basketball," Alex replies, dejectedly.

"Who told you that?" Maggie asks, laughter in her voice.

"They did," Alex says, still keeping her eyes on the boys. The biggest one, Jamie, plays against two smaller boys, Harris and Jake. Even outnumbered, he holds his own. 

"Well, that's not true," Maggie says, furrowing her brows. "I play basketball."

"You do?"

Maggie nods. "So do my sisters," she says. "Abby was on a basketball team back in Nebraska. She's gonna try out this year, too. She's really good at it."

"She is?" Alex asks. 

"Yeah! Her team won the championship last year." Maggie's getting more and more excited and it must be contagious, because suddenly so is Alex. "Hey, we should play against the boys. Show them that girls  _can_ play, too!"

Alex frowns suddenly and shakes her head. "No," she says. "They're really good. We'll probably lose."

"They're not that good," Maggie snorts. "Abby is better."

"And you?" Alex asks.

"I'm okay, I guess. I beat Abby a few times, but I think she lets me." She rolls her eyes. "But I'm good at making baskets and dribbling. Do you know how to dribble?"

Alex nods. "I play with my dad, sometimes, when he's not busy."

"Then you already know that girls can play basketball, silly," Maggie giggles, putting down her basket as she stands up and then reaches for Alex's hand. Alex is so shocked by the move that she doesn't even fight as Maggie drags her onto the court and straight into the middle of the boys' game. She pauses right in front of Jamie as he races towards the hoop and he stops barely in time to keep from bowling them over. 

"What the heck!?" he exclaims, glaring down at them - especially Maggie. "What do  _you_ want, Mummy?"

"My name is Maggie," the tiny girl replies, almost bored. "And  _we_ wanna play basketball."

Jamie snorts and the other two boys laugh. "Girls don't play basketball," he says, just like he had told Alex earlier.

"Says who?" Maggie asks, letting go of Alex's hand to cross her arms over her chest. Even with more than a foot in height difference between her and Jamie, she looks imposing. Her bottom lip sticks out as she glares up at him and she lifts her chin up, allowing Alex to see the 'S' of the Superman symbol. She glances at Jamie and sees him falter for a moment, before he paints on a glare.

"Says everybody," he replies, a moment too late. He swallows. "My dad says it's a man's game."

Maggie snorts at that, lifting one brow. "You're not a man, Jamie," she says. "You're a kid. We're all kids. And we all like to play games. Basketball is just a game. We should all play together."

"Why would we want to play with girls, anyhow? We'd have to let you win."

"Don't do us any favors," Maggie says. "We can win by ourselves. Right, Alex?"

Alex hesitates for a moment, then nods. "Right," she says. 

Jamie snorts. "Prove it," he said. "Boys against girls. Right now. If we win, you never get to play basketball again."

"And if we win," Maggie retorts, " _everybody_ gets to play; girls included."

"Deal," Jamie says. "But you've gotta beat all three of us."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Maggie says, grinning. She shakes his hand and then grabs Alex's, dragging her to the center of the court. "Just follow my lead," she instructs. "And do your best."

Alex nods, but feels the pressure as tiny little Maggie Sawyer checks the ball at big ol' Jamie Hannigan. She sighs as Maggie begins to dribble, watching her out of the corner of her eye to make sure that she doesn't get squished. To her surprise, Maggie runs around Jamie, quick and agile, as she dribbles the ball and shoots it straight at the basket. She cheers as she gets a point and Alex grins, then frowns when Harris catches the rebound and makes a shot for the boys' team. She runs as fast as she can to get the rebound from that and keeps her arm out to keep Jake from reaching in. She's able to get another shot and Maggie knocks it away from Jamie's hands, right back to Alex, who gets another shot. 

The game ends 6-4 when the bell rings and they're all called back into the school. Alex and Maggie grin at each other as they walk into together and Alex doesn't even care when she hears a few girls whisper about her because  _they won the game_! She's beaming as she returns to her seat and barely registers Maggie following her, even though her seat is in the front row.

"Alex," Maggie says, startling her new friend. Maggie gives her a gentle smile and holds up a Superman bandaid. At Alex's looks of confusion, the smaller girl points at her elbow and Alex looks down, seeing a slight scrape. "May I?" Maggie asks and Alex nods, ignoring the flush that covers her cheeks as Maggie gently presses the bandaid over her cut. "Much better," she says, grinning up at Alex, who finds herself smiling back. "Wanna play again tomorrow?" she asks.

"Sure," Alex replies. She doesn't even care that she can feel others staring at her, because Maggie's smile is truly infectious and her chest flutters with something Alex has never felt before. So she nods and watches Maggie return to her desk, her fingers playing with the new bandaid on her opposite elbow.


	2. Sister from another Planet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Alex wanted most for her birthday was a puppy. Instead, her parents gave her a Kryptonian.
> 
> Well, they're pretty much the same thing, right?

**Sister from Another Planet - 2000**

"Alex!" Maggie practically tackles the taller girl when she walks into Mrs. Ruiz's fifth grade classroom. Alex catches her with a laugh and practically lifts her off of her feet. Maggie has only grown slightly since they first met, but Alex had yet another growth spurt over the summer. "You're so tall!" Maggie laughs as Alex places her back on her feet.

"You're just really tiny," Alex teases in return. Maggie rolls her eyes and drags Alex towards one of the tables, pushing her down in a seat, before climbing into the one adjacent. They face the front of the room, where a tall, dark-skinned woman is writing on the chalkboard. When she turns around, she gives the students a sweet smile as they take their seats.

"Welcome!" she says. "I'm sure you've all had a very interesting and  _eventful_ summer and you're probably all riding that leftover energy today, which is fine, so long as you don't allow it to distract you from your studies." She lifts her eyebrow at Maggie, who's still vibrating in her seat and the girl immediately stills, offering her a shy smile.

"Sorry," she says. Alex hides a snicker behind her hand and Maggie kicks her under the table.

"As I was saying," Mrs. Ruiz continues, "you should pay attention to your studies and do all your work. Otherwise, I will be forced to  _assign_ seats and take you all away from your friends." Maggie grabs Alex's hand under the table and Alex squeezes her fingers, shooting her a comforting smile. Maggie gives her a dimpled grin back. "Now," Mrs. Ruiz goes on, grabbing a clipboard with a couple sheets of paper on it from her desk, "when I call your name, please raise your hand." 

She begins reading from the list as Alex takes out her new Hello Kitty notebook and a pencil. Keeping it in her desk, she scribbles out a note, then rips it out and slips it to Maggie; all without looking away from Mrs. Ruiz's face. She feels Maggie pass the paper back and glances down, snickering at what she's written, before her ears perk up at the sound of her name.

"Danvers, Alexandra?"

She wrinkles her name and raises her hand. "Can you please call me Alex?" she requests. Mrs. Ruiz nods and makes a note on her clipboard.

"Alex," she says, decisively, then continues with her list. Alex and Maggie continue to write back and forth, giggling and keeping an eye out for Mrs. Ruiz as she glances around the room as students raise their hands. "Luthor, Lena?" Alex's ears perk up at the name and she shares a look with Maggie, before turning towards a small, dark-haired girl who has her hand raised. 

She's about Maggie's size, but Alex is almost certain that she's younger than them. Actually, she's certain, because Lena...Lena's a Luthor. Alex remembers seeing her on the news, holding her father's hand at a courthouse, where her older brother, Lex, awaited trial for his crimes. She stood regal as a queen--like both of her parents--but she was still so small and young. On television, they'd given her age as eight years old, so why was she in a class surrounded by a bunch of ten and eleven-year-olds?

Even Mrs. Ruiz takes pause at the sight of her, but then she collects herself and moves on.

"Olsen, James,"  she calls next, and the roll continues on without incident. Until, that is, she calls for Maggie. "Sawyer, Margaret Ellen."

Alex can't help but snicker along with the rest of the class as Maggie's face blooms bright red. She raises her hand and kicks Alex under the table again. "Maggie," she corrects, gently. Mrs. Ruiz nods, giving her a smirk, then continues. Alex is still snickering into her hand when Maggie turns to her with a glare. "Shut up," she hisses. Alex has known Maggie's full name since they first became friends, but it still makes her laugh whenever Maggie is embarrassed by it. She just grins back at her friend.

Soon, Maggie is smiling, too, even as her cheeks remain pink.

* * *

 

"So, what do you want for your birthday?" Maggie asks later, as they walk down the front steps of Midvale Elementary. 

"I'm angling for a puppy," Alex informs her as she pushes her hair away from her eyes, with a sigh. "Or a haircut."

Maggie giggles. "You really think your mom's gonna let you have a puppy?" She asks, raising one eyebrow at her.

"Probably not," Alex admits. "But dad might." She smiles mischievously and Maggie snickers, rolling her eyes as they approach the pickup zone. Mrs. Sawyer is already there, waving from her car. Abby is next to her, listening to music on her walkman and holding a basketball in the front seat.

"Hello, Alex!" she calls. "Do you need a ride home today?"

Before can answer, there's a honk from two cars down and she sees her mother wave at her, frantically. Alex knits her eyebrows at Eliza for a moment, but then offers Mrs. Sawyer a polite smile. "No, thank you," she says. "That's my mom. See you tomorrow, Mags," she says, tugging her tinier friend into a tight hug, before turning to make her way to her mom's minivan. She climbs into the back seat and has barely gotten her seatbelt on when Eliza takes off from the curb. "Is everything okay, Mom?" Alex asks.

Eliza is silent for a long moment, before she sighs and looks at Alex in the rearview mirror. "Your father and I have something we need to tell you."

"O-kay," Alex says, then her eyes suddenly widen. "Are we moving?"

"No," Eliza says, easing her worries. "We're not moving."

"Okay," Alex sighs in relief. "Then what is it?"

Eliza takes a deep breath as she slows to a stop sign and waits while a group of children cross the street. "You know how you've always wanted a puppy?"

* * *

 

"This is not a puppy," Alex comments as she stares at the seven-year-old girl sitting on her living room couch. 

The girl furrows her brow and tilts her head to the side. "What's a puppy?" she asks, gazing between Alex, Eliza, and Jeremiah Danvers.

"It's an animal," Eliza informs her. "A baby dog."

"Oh, I know dogs," the girl says. "Kal-el has a dog." She turned back to Alex. "Why would I be a dog?"

"Is she for real?" Alex asks, looking up at her parents. 

"She's from a different planet, Alex," Jeremiah says, gently. "It's going to take her some time to get used to things here. And she's just a little girl."

"Which planet is she from?" Alex asks.

"Krypton," the girl answers. "I was sent here to take care of my baby cousin, Kal-el."

"Okay....where's he?" Alex asks, looking around the room, as if her parents might be hiding an infant in plain sight."

"It's Superman, dear," Eliza says.

"Superman's not a baby," Alex argues. "He's, like, 20."

"When we left Krypton, my pod was thrown off-course," the girl explains. "I got stuck in the Phantom Zone, where no time passes. I was there for twenty-four years, while Kal was here."

"I thought Superman's name was Clark," Alex says, looking up at her father. Both of her parents had worked with Superman since he learned about his powers in his late teenhood and actually became 'Superman'. He'd been over for dinner more times than she could count, but she still wasn't allowed to tell Maggie. Which killed her. "What's  _your_ name?" she asked, looking down at the girl.

"Kara," she replies. "That was my name on Krypton and I'd like to keep it." She glances up at Eliza and Jeremiah, almost nervously, and they smile.

"Kara Danvers," Jeremiah says, as if trying the name out on his tongue. "Sounds good to me." Kara smiles up at him and then beams at Alex, who continues to frown at her.

"Can we still get a puppy?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to expand on Lena in the next chapter and her role as a gifted student. Also, we'll see how younger!Kara tries to fit in on earth and in second grade.
> 
> Also, should they get a puppy? Because I'm thinking Krypto, but I don't know...


	3. Thunder Storms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara tries to get used to her new planet and has a little difficulty with a few things.

**Thunder Storms**

"Your parents adopted another kid?" Maggie asks as they meet up on the playground the next day. Kara's standing a few feet away, watching a pair of girls on the swings, curiously. She pushes her glasses up her nose; they're lead-lined to supress her sensitive X-Ray vision. Her father has yet to find a way to supress her supersonic hearing, and Alex can see the way Kara is wincing at the squeak of the swing chains as she glances over her shoulder at her.

"Yeah," she says. "Sorta. She's kind of weird."

Maggie glances around Alex, eyeing Kara up and down as the younger girl nearly gets knocked over before jumping to the side to avoid it. "I dunno," she says. "She's kind of cute." Alex turns as Kara waves at her with a big smile...only to get kicked from behind and launched in the air. Alex's eyes widen in fear as she flies way too high before crashing too the ground. "Wow," Maggie says. "She caught some air on that one."

Alex frowns as she runs towards Kara, kneeling next to her. Maggie follows. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeah," Kara sighs, brushing herself off. There's a rip in the knee of her jeans and Maggie checks it over.

"Well, you're lucky," she says. "There's no scrapes; not even a bruise." She furrows her brow in confusion, then shrugs. "Do you want a Superman bandaid anyway?"

"What's--" 

"She'd love one," Alex tells Maggie, snatching up the bandaid and pressing it to Kara's exposed knee. "Kara  _loves_ Superman. Don't you, Kara?" Alex asks, pointedly.

Kara nods, grinning. "Of course I do!" she said.

"Me too!" Maggie says, excitedly. "He's my favorite superhero."

Kara tilts her head like a curious puppy. "What's a--"

Before she can get the question out, the bell rings, signifying the start of school and making Alex sigh in relief. She stands and pulls Kara to her feet. "We'll fix your jeans later," she says. "Come on, I'll walk you to your classroom."

"I'll save you a spot," Maggie tells her before running up the stairs and heading towards Mrs. Ruiz's class.

"Okay," Alex replies. "I'll see you later." She turns back to Kara. "Let's go," she sighs, taking her hand and leading her into the building. 

Just as they were about to step inside, a drop of rain splattered on Kara's cheek and she looked up. "What's that?" she asks Alex as another drop falls, soaking through her top. 

"It's rain, weirdo," Alex sighs. "Don't you know what rain is?"

"It's condensation that fall from the sky," Kara states, as if reading from a textbook. Alex rolls her eyes as she continues to drag her down the halls. 

"Did you do research?" she asks. 

"No..." Kara replies, but she looks down at her feet as they walk and Alex sighs, shaking her head.

"Maybe you should," she says. "So you can fit in better, since you'll be here for a while."

"Forever, Jeremiah said," Kara points out.

Alex sighs. "Yeah," she says, staring out the window as the rain fell. "Forever."

When they get to Mr. Abraham's second grade class, Alex turns to Kara. "Are you going to be okay if I leave you here now?"

"I think so," Kara replies. "It's just school, right? I've been to school before. I can do this." The resolve in her eyes is almost convincing. 

Alex nods. "Okay, you'll be fine," she says, guiding Kara into the classroom and smiling at the teacher. "She's all yours," she says, before quickly exiting the room and making her way to her own class.

Mr. Abraham smiles down at Kara and holds out his hand. "Hello there," he says. "You must be our new student. Kara Danvers, is it?" Kara nodded, pushing her glasses up her nose. 

"Yes, sir," she says.

"Welcome, Miss Danvers. Go ahead and take a seat. Class will begin shortly." Kara nods and picks a seat next to a spiky-haired boy, who's playing with a toy robot under his desk.

"Hi," she greets. "I'm Kara Danvers." 

The boy looks up and gives her a grin. "I'm Winn Schott Jr.," he says. "I'm named after my dad, who's an inventor. He makes toys and we play games and he's so cool and he made this robot for me." He shows her the robot and Kara's eyes widen.

"That's...nice," Kara says, smiling politely. "You talk really fast."

"I know," Winn says. "Mom says I get it from my dad, but he really doesn't talk all that fast. Not that I've heard, anyway."

"Mr. Schott," Mr. Abraham says. "Please settle down now and everybody, take out your math books and turn to page ten."

Kara reached into her backpack and pulled out her brand new mathbook, placing it on her desk. "Which one is ten?" she whispers to Winn, who frowns back at her, furrowing his brows. 

"You don't know your numbers?" he asks. 

"Um...I get them confused," Kara admits.

"Do you have Dyslexia?" Winn asks.

"Um, okay," Kara confirms, nodding. 

Winn nods and opens Kara's book for her, to page ten. "There," he says. "Tell me if you need anymore help, okay?"

Kara nods and smiles at him. "Thanks!" Winn offers her a grin back.

* * *

 

"Do you wann come over on Friday?" Maggie asks as she walks beside Alex down the steps of the school. Their hoods are up, so all Alex can see is her smile and dimples as she speaks. She smiles over at her, about to answer, when she hears another voice from behind her.

"Alex!"

Alex sighs and they both pause at the bottom of the steps, turning back to watch as Kara emerges from the building. 

"I don't think we'll be seeing too much of each other for a while, actually," Alex tells Maggie. "Mom and Dad said I have to watch out for Kara." Maggie frowns and Alex's chest aches. "But I'll still see you at school," Alex comforts her, reaching out to squeeze Maggie's hand.

"What about your birthday?" Maggie asks. "We'll do something then, won't we?"

Alex smiles. "I'm sure we will," she says. Kara bumps into her from behind and Alex falls forward, her hand slipping from Maggie's before she can pull her down into the muddy puddle with her.

"Oops," Alex hears Kara say as she pushes herself to her hands and knees. "Sorry!"

Alex groans and shakes her head, then pulls herself to her feet, grabbing Kara's hand. "Let's go," she says. "See you later, Mags."

"Bye, Alex," Maggie says, dejectedly, waving after them.

* * *

 

"Alex?" 

Alex groans, burying her face deeper into the pillow.

"Alex?"

She turns, blinking her eyes open in the dark. She can hear rain pattering against her window and there's a shadow outlined by her window. "Kara?" she asks, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep," Kara whispers, kneeling at the end of Alex's bed. "There's electricity coming from the sky and I can hear explosions. I think we're under attack!" She leans into Alex, throwing her arms around her shoulders and Alex is too tired to push her away. "It's just like what happened on Krypton!" she sobs.

Alex sighs and wraps her arms around Kara's waist, stroking her hair. "It's okay," she says, soothingly. "It's just a thunder storm."

"A thunder storm?" Kara asks.

"Yeah," Alex replies, pulling away. "They make a lot of noise and there's some lightning, but you have nothing to be afraid of."

"Promise?" Kara asks. Alex nods. "Can I stay here with you tonight, anyway?"

Alex takes a deep breath, mulling it over for a moment, before nodding. "Fine," she says. "But just for tonight. Come on." She moves back and pulls aside the blanket for Kara to climb under. As soon as they're both laying down, Kara curls into Alex's side and Alex sighs, closing her eyes, wrapping one arm around her waist. 

"Thanks for this, Alex," Kara says.

"What are big sisters for?" Alex replies, then peeks one open. "You don't snore, do you?"


	4. Friend!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara makes a new friend and is SUPER excited about it ;)
> 
> In other words, Baby SuperLena!! (Or Supercorp; whichever you prefer ;))

**New Friend!!!**

Having a little sister is not as bad as Alex had thought it might be. Besides the superstrength and flying/levitating that she hasn't quite gotten the hold of and the heat vision and the  _constant questioning_ of things like birds and bees (not in  _that_ way, thank goodness), she's just a normal little Earth girl. Human. 

Still, she's an annoyance sometimes. Especially during recess, when Alex is trying to hang out with Maggie, James, and Lucy on the basketball court. They're playing 2-on-2 (Lucy and James against Alex and Maggie) and Kara watches, cheering Alex on even when her team doesn't have the ball. It's...distracting. And James and Lucy keep snickering at her as they look back at Kara, who gives them innocent, beaming smiles. 

"Ugh," Alex groans, after she misses yet another basket, due in large part to Kara's sudden cheer ("Yay! Go Alex!") throwing her off-kilter. "She's so annoying."

"She's your little sister," Maggie reminds her with an amused smirk. "She's  _supposed_ to be annoying. Take it from a professional." Alex snorts at that.

"At least you have friends, though," Alex points out.

"Only because I wouldn't stop following you around and annoying you," Maggie retorts.

"True," Alex sighs. "I just wish she'd find her own friends to annoy."

Maggie looks over at Kara, who waves back at them with a big grin, looking more like a puppy than a little girl with blonde pigtails and thick black glasses. She smirks and waves back, before her eyes slowly scan the playground. When her eyes fall on a particular person sitting alone on a bench not far away, a lightbulb goes on over her head and she gives Alex a smile before running off the court, to the suprise of all her friends. 

"Where are you going?" James calls out after her. Maggie ignores him as she runs towards Kara. Even at only seven years old, Kara is taller than the ten-year-old Maggie (which irritates her. Why is she always the smallest?) 

"Hi, Maggie!" Kara greets. 

"Hey, Little Danvers," Maggie replies, well aware that Kara is a good two inches taller than her. Still, she seems tickled by the nickname, her smile widening as her eyes sparkle. "Do you wanna do me a big favor?"

"Sure!" Kara says and Maggie could swear she sees the girl's tail wag.

"Okay," Maggie says, "so you see that girl right over there?" Maggie points over Kara's shoulder and the girl turns, her eyes easily finding the girl sitting on the bench, her nose buried in a book.

"Yeah?" Kara says, turning back to Maggie. "What about her?"

"Well, she looks a little lonely. Maybe you should go over and introduce yourself," Maggie suggests. 

Kara furrows her brow. "But then I can't watch you and Alex play basketball."

"I guess not," Maggie hums. "But that's okay. We'll be fine without our cheerleader for one day." Kara giggles at that. "I think she could really use a friend, though. Don't you?"

Kara looked back at the girl, watching her turn a page in her book. "I guess so," she says. "Do you know her name?"

"Lena," Maggie informs her. "Lena Luthor." 

Kara nods and hops off the bench, smiling at Maggie before she runs off to plop down next to Lena Luthor on the bench, startling the girl as she suddenly begins to speak. Maggie watches with a growing smile on her face as Lena's eyes widen and the book in her hands slowly lowers to her lap. She watches as the tension gradually seeps from Lena's shoulders as she begins to relax and then Maggie's eyes widen in shock when she sees a small smile spread over Lena's lips.

She's never seen Lena Luthor smile before. 

"Maggie!" The tiny girl jumps at the sudden sound of her best friend's voice in her ear. She turns to see Alex standing next to her, though the taller girl's eyes are trained on the bench as well. "What's my sister doing talking to  _Lena Luthor_?" She says the name almost like it's a swear word.

"Uh, talking to her?" Maggie supplies. "Making a new friend?" Lord knows they both need a friend.

"She can't be friends with Lena Luthor!" Alex hisses. "What about what her brother did to Superman?"

"That's her brother," Maggie says. "He's like ten whole years older than her. More, even. She's just an eight-year-old girl with a bad family name. And Kara's sweet; she doesn't care about any of that stuff."

"But what if she..." Alex trails off, gnawing at her bottom lip.

"What if she what, Alex?" Maggie asks, furrowing her brow. "She's eight. She's not going to do anything."

Alex doesn't respond for a long time, just watching them. She shakes her head. "I just don't want her to get hurt," she says, finally. "Kara is...sensitive. And...innocent. Too good for this world, you know?"

Maggie nods and reaches out, wrapping her hand around Alex's. "I know," she says. "But she'll be okay. It's just Lena."

Alex nods, but can't quite make herself believe it.

* * *

 

"What're you reading?" Kara asks, training her eyes on the cover of the book in Lena's hands. They didn't have books on Krypton. Well, they did, but not like this. This one is tiny and there's a picture of a pig on the front. The letters are still unfamiliar to Kara, but she's been picking up English pretty quickly. She recognize's 'Web' and 'White' but not the longer word.

"Charlotte's Web," Lena Luthor tells her, showing her the cover. "It's about a pig and a spider who become friends on a farm. The spider is Charlotte and the pig is Wilbur and Charlotte save's Wilbur's life."

"How?" Kara asks. 

"Well, she writes words in her web," Lena explains, saving her page as she shuts the book. She sticks a piece of paper on the page she'd just been reading and places it primly on her lap.

"How does that save Wilbur's life?" 

"It tells the humans not to eat him," Lena explains.

"Eat him?" Kara gasps. "Why would they wanna eat him? He looks so cute!"

Lena shrugs. "People like to eat animals," she says. "Because they have protein and things that we need to live."

"But....he's so cute." Kara pouts and Lena can't help but smile, consolingly, at her. 

"I know," she says. "But...oh, well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. I have another copy at home if you'd like to read it."

"Oh, I...I can't really read all that well," Kara says, frowning. "I have Dys....uh, Dys..." What had Winn called it?

"Dyslexia?" Lena asks.

"That's it!" Kara says, nodding. "That's the thing that I have. I'm getting better, though, I think. But I don't think I can read all those words by myself."

"Well, I could read it to you," Lena suggests. "I'm only on chapter two and I've read this before."

"So you know what happens?" Kara gasps. "Does Wilbur get eaten?" She frowns, her eyes pleading with Lena to say no.

Instead, Lena smiles conspiratorially. "Like I said, I'm not going to spoil anything. You'll just have to wait and see." 

Kara nods and Lena opens the book back to the first page. She begins to read:

""Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mom as they were setting the table for breakfast..." 

Kara finds herself inching closer to Lena, looking over her shoulder at the unfamiliar letters on the page before her, as she allows the soft, melodic sounds of Lena's voice weave a tale that instantly becomes her favorite. They stay like that until the bell rings.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more of these Super Friends (we're not calling it that) in the next chapter. Sorry it's been so long since my last update, but I'm a ghostwriter and I'm trying to get paid before the big holidays come to pass. Also I have bills.
> 
> I'm cassiebones on Tumblr btw


	5. Be Cautious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara continues to read with Lena and learns a little about her new friend from her family.

**Be Cautious**

"So," Eliza Danvers said as the family sat down to dinner, "did you girls have a good day at school?"

"Yeah," Alex replied, through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Jeremiah handed her a napkin with a raise of his eyebrows and the girl giggled, choking down her food as she dabbed her mouth. "Thanks, Dad," she said. "Maggie and I beat James and Lucy at basketball."

"Again?" Jeremiah chuckled and raised his hand. "High-five, superstar!" Alex slapped him five with a big, proud grin. Eliza smiled at them, before turning to Kara.

"What about you, dear?" she said. "Did you make any new friends today?" Kara'd been with them a little over a month now and she knew how difficult it was to make friends when you were new at school--let alone when you had a secret as big as the one Kara had.

The little girl nodded, a big grin on her face. "Yeah!" she exclaimed. "Her name is Lena and she's reading a book to me?"

"Oh, really?" Eliza asked, sharing a smile with Jeremiah. "Which book?"

"'Charlotte's Web', I think it's called. It's about a spider and a pig. The spider is Charlotte."

"Oh, I love that book," Eliza said. "I think that was Alex's favorite, too; wasn't it, sweetie?"

Alex nodded, taking another spoonful of mashed potatoes and completely ignoring the pile of green beans on her plate. At her father's gentle nudge, she sighed and took a bean as well, grimacing as she chewed. She nearly gagged when she swallowed and took a long sip of water while she wrinkled her nose. Eliza rolled her eyes, though she smiled fondly at her daughter's dramatics. 

"I  _did_ like that book," Alex said, finally, "but I don't think Kara should be reading it with  _her_."

Jeremiah furrowed his brow. "Lena?" he asked, double-checking with Kara to make sure he'd heard the name right. She was frowning as well, looking at her older sister. "Why not?"

"Because," Alex said, lowering her voice, "she's a  _Luthor_." She whispered the name like it was a curse.

Eliza and Jeremiah shared a look across the table and Kara looked between the three of them. "What?" she asked. "What's so wrong with that?"

Eliza took a deep breath and reached out, placing her hand on Kara's on the table. "Do you remember when we spoke about your cousin?" she said. "And what he does on this planet?  _For_ this planet?"

"He protects it," Kara replied. "From people who do bad things."

"That's right," Jeremiah said. "He does. And one of those people...one of those people is named Lex. Lex  _Luthor_."

Kara's eyes widened as she looked over at Alex, who was studiously avoiding her eyes as she played with the green beans on her plate. Then the younger girl turned her gaze to Eliza with a frown. "But...but Lena's not like that. She's nice."

"I know, Sweetheart," Eliza sighed. "I'm sure she is. But, still, you should be...cautious."

"What does that mean?" Kara asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"It means careful," Jeremiah informed her. "Like with everybody else," he explained. "Just make sure that Lena doesn't find out where you're from or what powers you have."

"You don't think she'll hurt me, do you?" Kara asked, suddenly nervous.

"No," Eliza said, squeezing her hand. Jeremiah shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's just a little girl. I don't think she'd do anything to purposely hurt you." She paused. "But her parents...the  _Luthors_ ; they're the ones I'm worried about. Lillian Luthor is...not a nice woman. I just wouldn't want you to get hurt. Do you understand?"

Kara nodded. "Can she still read to me?" she asked, softly. "Can we still be friends?"

Eliza gave her a soft smile. "Yes," she said. "You can. So long as you're cautious." 

Kara gave her a small smile in return. "Cautious," she echoed, with a decisive nod.

* * *

The next day, Kara found Lena on their bench, waiting for her with the book in hand. She was tiny and her feet didn't reach the ground, her legs kicking out, making her skirt flutter around her knees. Her bright green eyes looked toward the sky and there was a faint smile on her lips as she watched crows fly overhead, like she was mesmerized by their movements. Kara had felt the same way when she first saw birds and she wondered how it was possible that this girl--this small, pretty, kind of incredible girl--came from the same family as a man like Lex Luthor. A man that had harmed so many people. A man that hated people like Kara. A man that hated as easily as Kara loved.

Kara wondered if Lena was capable of that kind of hate.

When Lena turned to look at Kara and gave her that big, wide open smile, her cheeks pink and dimples deep and eyes alight with joy, just at seeing the other girl walking toward her. Kara was unable to keep herself from smiling back, her feet picking up speed as she got closer and then finally plopped down on the bench next to Lena. "Hi," she greeted, as she pushed up her glasses.

"Hi," Lena replied, her smile widening and allowing Kara to see the gaps in her smile where she'd recently lost a couple of teeth. "You ready to keep reading?" Kara nodded, enthusiastically. "Okay," Lena said, opening the book to their saved page. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, only for the words to die on her tongue as she felt Kara rest her chin on her shoulder, her eyes scanning the words on the page, as though she might be able to read them. 

Lena took a deep breath, pressing her lips together for a short second, before starting to read as she ignored the tingles all over her left side. Halfway through the chapter, she leaned her head on Kara's as she, too, began to relax.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins...


	6. Birthdays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara stumbles upon an entirely new concept

**Birthdays**

"What's a birthday?" Kara asked as Eliza held her hand, watching both ways before they crossed the street. In her opposite hand, Eliza had a bag full of streamers and other party decorations. There were balloons attached to her wrist, which Kara had found fascinating. They were shiny and they floated (like she could) and they bobbed and bounced with Eliza's movements as they walked.

"A birthday is a celebration," Eliza replied, "of the day that somebody was born. You didn't have them on Krypton?" Kara shook her head no. "Do you know the anniversary of your birth?" Kara nodded. "When is it?"

Kara frowned, thinking. She furrowed her brows and took a deep breath. "Springtime, I think," she said. "On Krypton, at least. It was always warm around that anniversary. My mother and father would tell me that I was another year older and give me a hug. We didn't talk about it much else, though. It was just another day."

"Hmm," Eliza said, thoughtfully. "Maybe we should change that then."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked. 

"Well, here on Earth, everybody has a birthday," Eliza told her with a smile. "So you should have one, too."

"Really?" Kara gasped. "Do I get presents and a party, too?"

"Mmhmm," Eliza hummed, "but first, let's focus on Alex's birthday, shall we?" Kara nodded and followed her into a nearby bakery.

* * *

"Alex!" Maggie, despite her small stature, practically knocked the taller girl over with the force of her hug.

Alex laughed, catching her and spinning her around, like always. They were both wearing dresses today, in celebration of Alex's (belated) birthday. It was really over a month ago, but with Kara's arrival...well, Alex hadn't bothered to mention it and she'd thought it passed without her parents' notice. But then Eliza and Jeremiah had surprised her with the news that she would be getting a party after all. That they had already called and invited all the kids in her class and most of them had RSVP'd and they were on their way over and Eliza had bought her a new dress to wear and what was she still doing in bed?

Alex had laughed and allowed her father to tug her out and over his head, spinning around like he used to when she was little and would ask for him to make her 'fly like Superman' until they were both dizzy. When he put her down, Alex was ambushed by her new little sister, who gave her an near-literal bone-crushing hug, despite the fact that Alex could feel how gentle she was being. 

"Happy birthday, Alex," Kara had whispered into her shoulder. Alex smiled and held her tighter.

Maggie was, as always, the first person at her party. She showed up a half hour early every year to help set up and spend a little extra time with Alex, alone, before the other kids in their class would get there and this time was no different.

Except Alex was wearing a dress.

"Whoa," Maggie murmured, looking her up and down. Alex blushed, looking down at the plain, light blue frock her mother had chosen for her. She didn't typically like dresses or skirts or anything that she couldn't really run around and play in, but this was nice. It was short and Eliza hadn't complained when Alex slipped on her blue high-tops to wear with it instead of her nicer holiday shoes. Her long hair was in a braid down her back and she could move easily enough. Plus, she was wearing shorts under the dress so that she didn't feel a breeze. 

Still, under Maggie's scrutiny she felt her face heat up, reaching the tips of her ears. 

"What?" Alex asked, defensively. "I think it looks nice."

Maggie's eyes widened at that. "Oh!" she said. "Oh, it does. It...it really does. You look very pretty." Now Maggie was blushing, too. "I've just...I haven't seen you in a lot of dresses. Not even at my birthday party last year, when we were supposed to dress like princesses. You dressed like--"

"Mulan," Alex finished for her, laughing. "I like Mulan. And she totally counts."

"Duh," Maggie laughed. She smiled and swallowed thickly. "You look very pretty, Alex," she said. "That's all."

The taller girl felt a flutter at that, from the bit of her stomach. She smiled and looked down, shyly, at the toes of her Converse, and couldn't quite identify what it was about Maggie's approval that made her feel so...tingly. Maggie Sawyer was her best friend--they'd known each other for  _years_ \--but hearing her say that Alex was pretty made Alex feel--

"Alexandra!" She jumped as she heard her mother call her name and looked up to see Lucy Lane and James Olsen come out into the yard to join her and Maggie. "You have more guests, sweetheart." Maggie and James smiled at the newcomers and welcomed them with hugs and high-fives. James and Lucy handed her the carefully wrapped presents they were holding and James made a smart comment about catching Alex Danvers in a dress (a comment that was rewarded by both Lucy and Maggie punching him in the arm on either side while Alex laughed, placing the gifts on a nearby table). 

"But really," he said. "You look good, Alex. Really pretty." Alex beamed proudly and struck a pose.

"I know," she said, feeling a sudden surge in confidence. James rolled his eyes, but all four of the kids laughed together. 

One by one, each of the kids in Alex's class arrived, save for a few that she wasn't really that close to. Lena Luthor, however, arrived, holding the hand of her nanny, Gerta, who smiled politely as she greeted Eliza and handed her Alex's gift. The small girl wore a green velvet dress and was half-hidden behind Gerta, peering shyly around the yard. Eliza smiled down at her before crouching down and offering her hand.

"So this is Lena," she said, softly. "It's nice to meet you, sweetheart. My name is Eliza; I'm Alex and Kara's mother. I've heard so much about you from Kara. I had no idea you were in Alex's class." The girl couldn't be older than eight, Eliza surmised.

"She's in the advanced program at school," Gerta informed Eliza, smiling proudly down at Lena. "She will graduate this year with your older girl. We are all so proud." Glancing back at Lena, Eliza caught her eye roll at that statement and she smiled softly.

"Well, it's nice to have you here, Lena," she said. "I'm sure both Alex and Kara will be thrilled to see you."

Lena perked up a little at that, her eyes scanning over the yard, searching...

"Lena!" Kara's voice practically had an echo and she was in front of Lena before the other girl even knew what was happening, pulling her into a tight hug that literally took her breath away. "Hi!"

"Hi, Kara," Lena squeaked out, completely out of breath, but unable to stop smiling. Nobody but Kara Danvers was ever this happy to see her.

"Kara, sweetie, loosen your grip," Eliza chided, gently, squeezing Kara's shoulder. She smiled up at Gerta. "She gets very excited," she explained. 

"Sorry," Kara said, stepping back, but still grinning brightly at her friend. "I'm so happy you're here," she said, as if it wasn't abundantly clear. "I hope you come to  _my_ party as well."

Lena's smile widened. "Sure," she said. "When is it?"

Kara's eyes widened and she turned to look up at Eliza, at a loss. Eliza chuckled and stroked a hand through her hair, looking back down at Lena. "Sometime in the spring," she told her. "We haven't quite figured out a date yet, but we still have some time left to plan, don't we?" She looked pointedly at Kara and the girl nodded, enthusiastically. "Until then, though, you're welcome over anytime you want."

"Really?" Lena asked, furrowing her brow. Nobody had ever extended that kind of invitation before. Not that she'd had many friends before Kara. She'd always been smaller and younger than the rest of the kids in her class. She'd started accelerating in kindergarten and hadn't stopped until she reached fifth grade, where she was finally being challenged. And, besides that, her family wasn't the most well-liked in either Metropolis or Midvale or anywhere, for that matter. Most parents didn't want their children associating with a Luthor. 

"Of course," Eliza assured her, softly. After all, there was nothing bad an eight-year-old could do. "Kara would love to have you over, I'm sure." She smiled down at her foster daughter, who was nodding so enthusiastically that she was certain that her head would pop off. Eliza chuckled. "Now go on and play," she said, taking the gift from Gerta. "The party will be  _really_ starting soon."

"We have a pinata!" Kara exclaimed, taking her hand and tugging her away from Gerta. The nanny watched them go with a fond smile, waving goodbye to her girl as Lena smiled and waved back over her shoulder.

"Thank you for this," she whispered to Eliza. "Since we moved here, she has made  _so few_ friends. So many people are scared of her mother and they...they take it out on her. Not to mention her age." She sighed, looking affectionately at Lena as Kara continued to lead her around by the hand. "It's good that she has a friend like your daughter. She needs that. She needs a friend right now. So...thank you. For giving my girl a chance."

Eliza gave her a watery smile, attempting to hold in her emotions as she swallowed thickly. "Trust me," she said, after a long moment, "we're just as thankful for her." They shared an understanding smile and Gerta reached out, shaking Eliza's hand, before turning and making her way out.

Eliza watched her go, before taking a deep breath and painting on a smile, wiping the tears from her eyes as she looked out around the yard, at all the children who were running around, giggling. She beamed at Alex, who was surrounded by a small group of friends, just standing around and laughing about something or other. She smiled at Maggie, who was fluttering around her, dimples showing as she giggled and bounced around Alex, who grabbed her and hugged her tight, the two smiling as James Olsen took the old camera that was perpetually hanging around his neck, and snapped their photo. They made silly faces at him as he took another, chuckling.

Her eyes scanned across the yard to where Kara and Lena were chasing each other around in circles, giggling all the while. Other kids ran around, as well, as they waited for the party to officially begin. But all Eliza could see were her two girls. Her two girls and their best friends. Her two girls and their happiness. 

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Her husband's voice startled her and Eliza turned to smile up at Jeremiah as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Our girls."

Eliza nodded, relaxing back into his embrace. "Yeah," she said. "Our girls."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I'm crying. We're probably going to fast-forward a bit.
> 
> Also, I might be wrong about the birthday thing on Krypton, but this is my story (and my children) so I'm going to pretend that I'm write even if I'm not.
> 
> That's pretty much how I live my life, anyway, fun fact.
> 
> I'm cassiebones on Tumblr.


	7. One Day the World Stopped Turning (9/11)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter takes on a more serious tone that could be triggering for anybody who lived through this time in our history and even those that didn't. 
> 
> Personally, I was less than twenty miles away when this happened and it's hard for me to even write. But I think that it would be irresponsible to ignore it. Kara would definitely have reacted strongly to something like this.
> 
> If you want to skip this chapter, I completely understand.

**One Day the World Stopped Turning (9/11)**

Alex is less than a month from her twelfth birthday when an announcement comes over the loudspeaker.

_"School will be ending early today. Parents have been called. Anybody without special permission will not be allowed to leave the campus without a parent or guardian present to escort them home. Stay safe."_

Alex and Maggie frown at each other as the words echo in their ears and Mrs. Jones echoes their sentiments, making her way to the classroom phone. She places it to her ear and whispers into it for a few minutes, turning away from the class and leaving them to talk amongst themselves. Maggie frowns, her eyebrows knitted together as she turns to Alex.

"What do you think is going on?" she asks, leaning in.

"I have no idea," Alex whispers back, jumping as her cellphone--the one her parents had given her just last week, for emergencies--vibrates violently in her bag. She reaches for it and places the device to her ear, whispering into the receiver. "Hello?"

"Alex, sweetie." It's her mother. "Are you okay?"

"I'm...fine," Alex replies, her face twisting in concern. "Why? Mom, what's wrong? Is Kara okay?"

"Kara's fine," Eliza says. "I just got off the phone with her principal. They're evacuating, but I need you to go and pick her up, alright? Your father and I are...we're...we'll be home soon. We just need you to go get Kara and bring her straight home, alright? Straight home. Make yourself something to eat and put on a movie. You can even bring Maggie over, if her mother says so. But I need you to do me one favor."

"Um, o-okay," Alex says, looking over at Maggie, who's trying to eavesdrop a little, leaning in. 

"Don't watch the news," Eliza pleads. "Whatever you do, sweetheart, don't turn on the news."

"But why?" Alex asks. "Mom, what's going on?"

"I can't explain right now, Alexandra," Eliza sighs. "Please, just do these things for me? And keep Kara calm, alright. We'll be home soon."

There are thousands of questions springing to Alex's mind and she opens her mouth to ask just one of them, but then the line goes dead and her mother's voice is replaced by a dial tone and Alex takes the phone away from her ear, frowning down at it.

"What's going on?" Maggie asks, frowning over at her. 

"I don't know," Alex says, slipping the cell phone back into her bag along with the rest of her books, "but I have to go pick up Kara."

"We're not allowed to leave," Maggie reminds her. "We have to wait for our parents."

"Mine aren't coming," Alex tells her, trying not to get aggravated. Neither of them knows what's going on, but Maggie knows even less than Alex. She's trying desperately not to take that out on her friend. Her best friend. "You should call your mom and see if you can come with us." She knows that Mrs. Sawyer is likely still at work. She doesn't get off until two o'clock, to pick up her kids.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Maggie asks and Alex nods, handing it back over. 

Maggie quickly taps in her mother's work number and places the phone to her ear. Alex listens in the same way Maggie had earlier. She can't hear much more than static surrounding Mrs. Sawyer's voice, but Maggie's voice is loud and clear right next to her ear. "Yes," she says. "I'm fine. Why?...I'm in class, with Alex. They're sending us home earlier...we're not allowed to leave unless we have a parent with us or we get special permission to leave alone...Alex wants me to go with her to pick up Kara. Can you call the principal and let him know that we're allowed to leave? Okay. Thanks, Mom. I love you, too." She hangs up the phone and hands it back to Alex, who tucks it safely back into her bag. Maggie sweeps all her stuff into hers and by the time she's zipped it up, Mrs. Jones is calling their name.

"Alexandra Danvers, Margaret Sawyer, James Olsen, Lucy Lane, and Lena Luthor," she says, pointing out each kid as she says their name. "You're all free to go. Stay safe."

The small group get their bags together before heading out. Maggie grabs Alex's hand, squeezing it hard as they exit the building. James and Lucy run to their parents. Lucy looks so tiny in her father's arms and he looks  _so scared_ , his face pale as he holds her close. Alex furrows her bros; she's never seen anybody--especially Lucy Lane's father, an army man and the only dad she knows that has never smiled in her presence--look that frightened. James' father has a similar look on his face, but he forces a smile as he wraps his arm around James' shoulders and guides him to his car.

Lena is the only person who can't seem to find her parents. Or her nanny, Gerta, who is nowhere to be found. Alex begins to set off for the elementary school, but then hesitates, looking back at the young girl, whose face is stoic. But Alex can see the small wrinkle between her eyebrows and the downward tilt of her lips. She shares a long, knowing look with Maggie, before they both walk the few feet over to Lena and Maggie offers her a hand.

"Wanna come with us to go pick up Kara?" she asks. 

Lena stares at her hand for a long moment. "I should really stay here," she says, "and wait for Gerta."

"You can call her on the way," Alex says. "I have a cell phone you can use. Besides, I'm sure Gerta would rather you be safe than alone."

Lena nods in agreement and gives Alex a soft smile as she takes Maggie's hand. "I think you're right," she says. "Thanks." Alex gives her a smile and hands her the cell phone. Lena punches in the number with her thumb, not letting go of Maggie with her opposite hand, as they continue to walk.

She finds out that Gerta never got a call. It was Lena's mother who'd gotten a call from the principal. Lena's mother who had given the school permission to allow her nine-year-old daughter out of the school, to walk home alone. Lena's mother who hadn't even bothered to inform her husband or their nanny that Lena would be going home alone. Gerta, Alex could tell, from the way her voice crackled loudly from her cell phone, was incensed. Lena tried to keep her calm and began speaking a whole other language, altogether, before promising Gerta that she was safe and with 'Kara's sister' and would be heading over to the Danvers household.

"I'm safe, nanny," she promised. "Alex and Kara will keep me safe."

Gerta's voice had quieted then and Lena had promised that she would call as soon as they reached the house, before telling Gerta that she loved her and hanging up the phone. She handed it back to Alex and that was that.

Now, they walk up the path to the elementary school. It's just after ten in the morning and there are children rushing out, jumping into their parents' arms. The children look joyful and their parents...don't. Alex knows when somebody is putting on a brave face and that's what they're all doing, she's sure of it. She just still doesn't understand why.

She approaches Mrs. Butterfield, Kara's third grade teacher, who stands with the others at the entrance to the school, where they meet with parents, clipboards in their hands. "I'm here to pick up my sister," she tells her. "Kara Danvers."

"You're Alex?" Mrs. Butterfield asks. Alex nods. The teacher smiles, though it doesn't quite meet her eyes. "I've heard a lot about you from Kara," she says, looking down at her list. She crosses something off, then opens the door to the building and pokes her head inside. "Kara, sweetheart; your sister is here."

Kara bounds out the door and jumps straight into Alex's arms. "Alex!" she exclaims. Alex chuckles as she lets go of Maggie's hand to catch her sister. "And Maggie? And Lena!!!" Just as soon as she was in her arms, Kara is out of them, running to embrace Lena, who's opens her arms in return. The girls hug tightly and Kara pulls back, holding onto her hand, before taking Alex's as well. Alex shares a smile with Maggie as she takes her hand, too. 

They start walking again.

"Why are we going home early today?" Kara asks. "Is it some kind of holiday?"

"No, I don't think so," Alex replies, keeping her tone light. She  _knows_ that it's not a holiday that's taking them out of school. It's something much graver. But she doesn't want to scare Kara; she's sweet and sensitive and she only ever wants to help. Besides, Alex really doesn't know what it is. It could be nothing.

She hopes it's nothing.

Their house isn't that far away from the school and all Alex really needs to do is find the shore and turn left until she sees their house, situated right on the beach. It's a beautiful day in Midvale, and if her mother hadn't instructed her to stay inside "where it's safe" she might have gone to grab her surfboard and practice some of the moves her dad had been teaching her over the summer.

But today's not the day for that, so instead she unlocks the front door and holds it open for her three companions. Lena and Kara are talkig animatedly about some book that Lena is reading, but Maggie waits just inside the door for her. Alex can't help but spare one more glance outside. Nothing seems to be amiss. The skies are blue and cloudless. Everything is perfect and quiet and...

Quiet. 

Something about the quiet outside is unnerving to Alex, so she closes the door and locks herself in with Kara's chattering and Lena's giggles and tries to forget the uneasy feeling as she moves into the living room.

Eliza had said to put on a movie or something and Alex checks the VCR for something to play and finds  _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ already loaded from the other night. By now the tape would be rewound, so she presses play and turns on the TV.

".... _and a second plane crashed into the South Tower at approximately 9:03 am EST, killing everybody aboard and hundreds inside the building as it collapsed."_

Alex freezes, her thumb over the 'input' button, her eyes wide as a slightly grainy video plays on a loop in front of her. It's of a plane--a commercial flight--smashing into the top of a very familiar tower. Another, identical, tower is already crumbling next to it, black smoke rising. There is a plane lodged in its remains. The scroll at the bottom of the screen reads " _ **BREAKING NEWS!!!**_ " and details the events from just a few short hours ago. 

The World Trade Center. In New York City.

Alex had been there with her parents two summers ago, on a family trip. There was a restaurant on the top floor that they'd visited. The waiter had made Alex laugh with silly jokes and crafted an origami swan out of her napkin. She still had the folded swan; it sat atop her dresser in her room. 

The remote falls from her hand and clatters on the floor as her eyes continue to absorb what's happening on her screen. Another picture appears; the Pentagon in Washington, DC. A third flight had crashed there. The news anchor announces--not for the first time, it seems--that no planes will be flying over the continental U.S. for the next several hours until they can be sure that there won't be any more terrorist attacks.

"Alex?" She jumps at the sound of her sister's voice and turn to see Kara's wide, blue eyes staring at the screen, as well. Her face is pale and her lip is trembling as she watches the loop of the planes smashing into the building. "What's going on?"

Alex hastily reaches down and picks up the remote, quickly switching the input so that the Pumpkin King's song interrupts the broadcast. "Nothing," Alex says, but she knows that Kara can hear her heartbeat. Alex was always a a lousy liar.

"Alex." It's one word, but she somehow manages to sound like their mother in those two short syllables and Alex half expects to turn around and see Eliza standing there in Kara's place. But all she sees is her eight-year-old sister, looking up at her with a stony expression, eyebrows knitted together and resolve in her eyes. Alex avoids her eyes for a moment, looking around the room, and she finds that both Lena and Maggie are also staring at her, both with concern in their features. She sighs.

"Come with me," she says, taking Kara's hand and leading her upstairs. Before they ascend, she turns back to Maggie and Lena, who are still watching her. "We'll be right back," she tells them. "Watch the movie, okay? And there are snacks in the kitchen. Help yourself."

"Alex," Maggie starts, but at her friend's pleading look, she quiets and turns back to Lena, taking her hand and guiding her to sit on the couch. 

Alex takes a deep breath and then continues to lead Kara upstairs. They go into Alex's bedroom, which has a view of Swan Beach and a window wide enough for them to climb out onto the roof. In the last year since Kara had come into her life, they'd spent a lot of time on the roof, together, looking out at the water as it lapped against the shore. Sometimes, Kara would tell Alex all about her day at school or her playdates with Lena (which always happened at their house, since Eliza and Jeremiah weren't too keen about her going over to Lena's, even if her parents were rarely present) or Alex would help her learn to read. Kara had become pretty good at reading in English since she first arrived, actually. She likes to use that knowledge to impress Lena, who is always happy for her. Despite her trepidation about the two girls becoming friends, Lena has grown on Alex in a way she didn't really think she would. It's nice to see Kara has a friend. Even if she  _is_ a Luthor.

Before today, Alex wouldn't have hesitated to climb out onto the roof to talk with Kara--the sounds of the waves tended to relax her--but today...she didn't want to risk anything. So, instead, they sit on her window seat. It's not the safest place they could possibly be in the house, but at least they can see the stretches of blue water and cloudless sky before them. Kara's hand is still safely tucked in hers and Alex is silent for a long moment.

"There was an attack," she says, finally, speaking around a lump in her throat that she hadn't even felt begin to form.

"An attack?" Kara asks, frowning. "Like...an alien attack?"

Alex shakes her head. "I don't think so," she says. "I mean, not  _outer space_ aliens, anyway. But people...people from another country. People from this planet."

Kara furrows her brow in confusion. " _Earthlings?_ " she asks. "They attacked their  _own_ planet? But why?"

Alex shrugs. "I don't know," she says.  _Because I'm only twelve. I haven't even had my bat mitzvah yet. I'm only a little girl._ "Because they're full of hate?" She shrugs, turning to look into her sister's eyes. Her sweet, innocent, loving little sister. Kara is literally the kind of person who would never hurt a fly. She killed a mosquito over the summer after it bit her and she cried for an hour while Eliza and Jeremiah tried to comfort her. She was just so...she cared so much. 

And now there are tears in her eyes and Alex doesn't know how to make it better.

"What could fill them with that much hate?" Kara asks, but it sounds more like a soft demand. Like she expects Alex to have all the answers. "What did those people do to them? The ones in the building?"

Alex shrugs. "I don't know. Possibly nothing."

Kara's eyes widen at that and she lets go of Alex's hand, standing up with fire in her tear-filled eyes. "So they did it for  _nothing_?" She's whispering--thank goodness--aware of their guests downstairs, but Kara can tell that she's just holding back her ire. Her tiny fists are clenched at her sides. "They killed all those people for nothing?"

"That happens on this planet, Kara," Alex sighs. "I'm sorry, but it's true."

"But you...but this...no..." Kara looks like she's warring with something inside of herself. Trying to decide whether or not Alex is telling the truth. "Kryptonians would never have done something like that!" she hisses. "We were a peaceful people. We solved conflicts with out words, not our fists."

"This isn't Krypton, Kara," Alex reminds her, gently. She reminds herself, also, that Kara is eight and unused to this word. She's young and foreign and hasn't grown up with this kind of...hate. Not like Alex. "The Earth is different."

"The Earth is stupid," Kara growls and Alex's eyes widen. She rarely hears Kara say things like that. She's only ever had anything negative to say when she or a friend is bullied at school (which happens far too often) for being...different.

Alex is not inclined to disagree, however. "You're right," she tells Kara. "It  _is_ stupid. But that's how it is."

"You're just going to accept it?" Kara asks, frowning at Alex, disappointment clear in her eyes. It hurts, somehow, and Alex finds herself standing up, fire brimming in her own chest.

"No," she says, "of course not." She takes a deep breath as she places her hands on her sister's shoulders. "That's how the world is," she repeats, "but we can make it better."

"How?" Kara asks. "I'm not even allowed to use my powers here." 

Alex can't help but smile at the memory of Kara being chastised for flying around the house, having just discovered that she could do so. Of herself begging her to come back down to earth  _before somebody sees, Kara!_ The only time Kara's allowed to use any of her newfound abilities is at Thanksgiving, when she gives the turkey a little 'boost' as Eliza puts it. She shakes off the memories as she looks down into Kara's big, blue eyes.

"You be good," she says. "Be as good as you can be. Help people. You don't need your powers to hold the door open for somebody or to help mom around the kitchen or to compliment somebody or to stand up for somebody on the playground, do you?" Kara shakes her head. "Right."

"But how does that make a difference?" Kara asks. "How does that prevent things like those planes? Like those people...."

"Kara, you're eight," Alex sighs. "There's not much you can do to stop that kind of thing happening on any planet. Not Krypton. Not Earth." Kara looks down at her shoes, but Alex tilts her head up with the curl of her finger under her chin. "But you'll grow up. And when you do, you can be anything you wanna be. You can be a doctor and heal people. You can become a politician and make the world a better place with your ideas. You can even be President--as far as anybody knows, you were born right here in Midvale--and fix foreign relations. You just have to keep being good and helping as many people as you can, okay? You can do a lot more than you think."

Kara's lips turn up in a small smile and before Alex knows what's happening, she's being wrapped in a bone-crushing hug, unable to breathe but not really complaining too much. Because it's Kara. And hugs from Kara are the best kind of hugs, even if she doesn't quite know her own strength. 

"I love you, Alex," Kara says. Alex lets out a strangled noise in response and Kara immediately loosens her hold. "Sorry," she whispers and Alex lets out a breathless laugh. 

"It's okay," she says, patting Kara's back. "I love you, too, Kara." Kara beams up at her, the lead-lined glasses that Jeremiah had given her slipping down the slope of her nose. Alex pushes them up with one finger, then wraps her arm around Kara's shoulder and begins to lead her downstairs. "Now let's go watch a movie," she says. "And no telling Mom and Dad what we talked about, okay? I think they'd rather have that conversation with us."

"Okay," Kara sighs. "No talking about it with Lena or Maggie, either?"

"I think that's for the best," Alex admits. "I think they should talk to their parents about it. For right now, we should just have fun and try to relax."

"Okay..." Kara sounds unsure, but she allows Alex to lead her downstairs, anyway, paints on a smile when they see their friends peeking up at them over the back of their couch. They're well into the movie now, but both Alex and Kara can tell that neither of them is paying any kind of attention. 

"So," Alex says, pausing in the middle of the living room. "Who wants to bake cookies?"

Kara's smile turns genuine at that and she raises her hand, excitedly. "Me!" Both Lena and Maggie laugh at that as they stand up to follow the Danvers sisters into the kitchen.

Outside, the world shakes on its axis just a little bit, stops turning for so many, but they do their best to create a safe haven, if only just for the four of them. And it's enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was very difficult to write, if only because at the time of the attacks, I was seven and my teacher actually had to explain to us what happened. I live in Westchester, less than twenty miles from the site of the attack. From my house, I could see smoke way off in the distance. It was only noticeable because there was so much and it was such a clear day. I remember going home early, being picked up by my mother, who also had to get my four other siblings. I remember the quiet. I remember not understanding and getting home, taking a nap on the couch while my mom made calls trying to find out if everybody she knew was still breathing, still alive.
> 
> I remember watching Charlotte's Web on tv and eating Teddy Grahams and hanging out with my brothers. I remember the hate that followed, happening all over the country. I was seven years old and there are some of you that remember that day with more detail than I do. There are some of you reading this that weren't even alive or were just infants at the time. It was a bad day, but I don't remember being sad or scared. Just confused. 
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter was so dark and I'll try to make the next one fluffy and positive, but I knew this was one chapter that had to be written and I'd rather end the year with it than start a new year with it, you know?
> 
> I'll try to get in the next chapter in the next 24 hours. Until then, Happy New Year.


	8. Happy New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so here's a lighter, happier chapter with a lot of Sanvers and Superlena fluff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There's a bit of a time jump

**Happy New Year**

Maggie's growth spurt happens all at once just before they enter high school and it seems to occur in the last two weeks of August, while she's visiting her grandparents in Blue Springs, Nebraska. Alex hardly recognizes her when the young woman--who's taller and, er,  _curvier_ \--embraces her in front of the entrance to Midvale High. She's still tinier than Alex, but not by much. She seems to fit perfectly under her chin and Alex is reluctant to let her go. Her eyes have that same Maggie sparkle in them and her smile is still dimpled and happy and it makes Alex feel warm inside.

She forces herself to let go, however, as the bell rings and Maggie clutches her hand, dragging her towards first period. By a stroke of luck, they have most of their classes together, except for science. Because Alex is a major nerd and got herself in the AP science classes a full year before anybody else. Maggie teases her plenty about being "too smart for Astronomy, Danvers?" but there's a proud glint her eye that gives Alex a stupid little flutter in her chest.

Every. Single. Time.

Alex doesn't know what's happening to her. She feels flushed all the time and nervous and her hand tingles whenever Maggie holds it and she can't suppress her smile when Maggie makes a teasing comment (which she does  _a lot_ ) and she has  _never_ felt this way before. She's known Maggie since they were seven and she's never had this problem. What's different?

Alex spends the entirety of their first semester of high school trying to figure it out. She spends as much time as possible with Maggie and mentally calculates her reactions to the other girl, logging them in the margins of her AP Chemistry notebook and poring over biology books in the library to try and figure out what the hell is happening in her body. Everything she comes up with points to puberty and she gets her first period right after Thanksgiving.

 _Maybe that's it_ , Alex thinks as she curls herself into the fetal position on her bed, trying to rip herself of cramps with a hot water bottle pressed to her stomach and a piece of cotton the size of Vermont shoved somewhere that's making moving very unpleasant.  _Maybe I'm just hormonal and my senses are heightened because I'm going through so many changes._ Another cramp hits her and she bites back on a simultaneous wave of nausea, curling her body further into a ball.  _Yep,_ she decides.  _That's definitely it_.

But then Christmas is here and Maggie invites her to a Christmas Eve party (even though Alex doesn't celebrate) and there's a boy there--a friend of Maggie's cousin--and he flirts with Maggie all night long and Alex feels herself becoming irritated. Her period is still several days away, so she figures that has something to do with it, but she sticks to Maggie's side all night long and ignores her older cousin as he hits on Alex, as well. Even though he's cute. He has the same dimpled grin as Maggie does and the same twinkle in his brown eyes, the same tan skin, the same wavy hair. Only his is shorter and his stature is taller and muscular and he's not Maggie. His smile doesn't make her insides flutter and when he holds her hand, it feels cold and clammy and Alex immediately pulls away when he guides her under the mistletoe and tries to kiss her. 

Maggie punches her cousin for that and it makes Alex smirk as he rubs his shoulder and grumbles under his breath. His friend laughs and Alex can tell that it just makes him like Maggie more. She can relate. The girl is tiny, but she's always been tough. He takes  _her_ hand and Alex can see a war happening behind Maggie's gaze as they land under the mistletoe. She can tell that Maggie's uncomfortable but there's some kind of force keeping her there with him. The force deepens when her mom and sisters turn to see her and they begin to coo and ooh and ahh and Maggie looks ten times as uncomfortable, but can't seem to move as the older boy lowers his lips to hers.

Alex feels like she's the only one that sees Maggie's spine go rigid and it incenses her.

When Maggie pulls back, her face is red and she shares a long, stunned look with Alex before tearing herself away and running upstairs as fast as her feet will carry her. Her aunt gasps and her mother frowns in worry and the boy that just kissed her watches her retreating form with blank eyes and a dejected look on his face. Alex waits for only a few seconds before following after her, her steps slow but sure as she climbs to the second story of Maggie's aunt's house.

She finds Maggie in the bathroom, rinsing out her mouth with mouthwash and she barely restrains the laugh that threatens to burst from her lips as Maggie gargles and then spits the blue liquid out into the sink. When she turns to Alex, her eyes are a bit red-rimmed and Alex frowns, reaching out to reflexively pull her into her arms. Maggie sniffles against Alex's sweater, but she doesn't cry. Alex still holds her more tightly and sighs. It feels like coming home, every time Maggie fits her head under Alex's chin. It feels... _right_.

"He tastes like cigarettes," Maggie murmurs against Alex's shoulder. She can practically feel the way the shorter girl wrinkles her nose through the material of her sweater. "I thought kissing boys was supposed to be...nice.

"He's probably not the right boy," Alex suggests, shrugging her shoulder.

Maggie is silent for a long moment. Then she sighs.

"You're probably right."

They spend the rest of the night avoiding the boys and the mistletoe. Instead, they curl up in front of the television with Maggie's sisters and little cousins. They watch Rudolph and Maggie holds Alex's hand and Alex rests her head on Maggie's and it's nice.

* * *

A week later, Alex invites Maggie to her family's New Year's Eve party. She invites Lucy and James, too, but Maggie is the person she's really excited to see walk through the door. Kara invites Lena and Eliza makes sure to provide them with plenty of snacks and Kara practically inhales the first round of potstickers that they put in front of her, much to the amusement of everybody at the party. Maggie makes an oinking sound in the back of her throat and Kara just sticks her tongue back out at her.

Halfway through the evening, Alex realizes that James and Lucy are holding hands and she gives them a pointed look. Lucy is the first to blush and shrug. "It was bound to happen," she says, by way of explanation. "We just thought we'd make it official."

"So when's the wedding?" Maggie teases, with a big, dimpled grin.

"Shut up," James huffs, but he has trouble hiding his own smile as his hand clenches around Lucy's. She beams up at him and Maggie sticks out her tongue in a mock-disgusted look at Alex. Alex laughs in response, but she can't help but feel a bit envious. There aren't any boys that she really likes at their high school. She'd considered James for a while, but realized that she couldn't really see him in that capacity. He's just her friend and she's fine with that. Obviously, he is, too.

She knows Kara has a small crush on him, though. She turns to see her sister frown at the pair for a moment, before being tugged back into conversation with Lena about a recent book they'd begun to read together. Kara's smile widens and Alex can see the way she relaxes, listening to Lena with her whole body. Shes glad, at least, that she has a friend like that.

"So, Kara," Maggie says. "Where's Winn tonight? I thought you were going to invite him, too?"

Winn is another friend of Kara's. He skipped a grade since they met when they were seven, but he still tends to follow Kara and Lena around like a lost puppy. Kara loves him--as a friend--and though Alex  _knows_ that Winn has a severe crush on her sister, he's still a pretty great guy. He would never do anything to hurt her.

Kara shrugs. "He said he had to deal with some family issues. He's probably not coming." She frowns and Alex reaches over, squeezing her hand. She knows exactly why Winn isn't going to be there, but she's not about to voice that right now. She doesn't want to bring anybody else down. She just hopes that it doesn't make them drift apart.

Maggie looks like she wants to say something more--maybe something consoling--but she just shakes her head and moves on, to Alex's everlasting gratitude. She hates seeing Kara upset--even more so when she can't do much to ease the pain--but she's glad to know that there are people there that love and support her almost as much as Alex does. That's enough for now.

"What about you two?" James asks and both Maggie and Alex turn to look at him. "No guys you're interested in kissing at midnight."

"Ew," Maggie says.

"Gross," Alex agrees.

"Okay," James laughs. "Point taken. Then who're you gonna kiss?"

Alex almost reaches out to pull Kara into her lap, jokingly, and pressing kisses all over her sister's face until Kara is squirming and giggling. She's done it before as a way to annoy and embarrass her, but this time Kara is took far away and too engrossed in her conversation with Lena to tug on. Besides, before she even knows what's happening, her arms are full of Maggie Sawyer, who cuddles against her chest. "She has me," Maggie says, her voice slightly husky and very obviously teasing as she flutters her eyelashes up at Alex.

Still, Alex finds herself blushing; her face is hot and her tongue suddenly feels dry and she has to swallow past a lump in her throat to reply. "Yeah," she says, trying to add lightness to her tone as she smiles back at James. "Obviously," she says. She curls her arms around Maggie's body and prays that she can't feel her heart beating rapidly inside her chest. 

As the New Year inches closer, Maggie stays curled up in Alex's lap as they watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve and the teens (and preteens) sit on and around the sofa, talking, eating, and drinking soda and sparkling apple cider out of champagne glasses. At a quarter to midnight, Jeremiah hands out party poppers and noise makers and silly "2005" glasses, which Maggie looks adorable in, and encourages them all to get to their feet. Maggie doesn't move far away and Alex doesn't really mind except she sees James peering at them, oddly, from where he stands with Lucy tucked against his side.

Alex sends him a glare and looks away, glancing at where Kara is shoving marshmallows in her cheeks to make Lena giggle. Lena's green eyes twinkle and Kara looks like a chipmunk, which makes Alex chuckle and shake her head.

When the countdown begins, Maggie is still right there and Alex looks down to find her staring. "What?" Alex asks, furrowing her brow. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No," Maggie laughs. "You're still as beautiful as ever." Alex flushes again--she should be used to those kind of comments from Maggie, since she makes them all the time, but she's not--and watches as a similar blush appears on the shorter girl's cheeks, though her gaze is unwavering. The countdown continues in the background and Alex feels the fluttering in her stomach again as they hold eye contact. It's somehow different than before. Different than all the times she's caught Maggie staring at her in the past. Different than all the times she's grabbed Alex's hand and fitted herself under Alex's chin and against her side. Different, still, than anytime a boy has ever locked eyes with her.

Alex knows that she's supposed to like boys. She knows that she's meant to be boy-crazy--like Lucy or Kara--but she has never liked looking into another boy's eyes like she loves looking into Maggie's. She's never felt this flushed staring at a boy's face or found her eyes flickering down to their lips as midnight on New Year's Eve inched ever closer. She's never felt so indescribably happy just to be in the same  _room_ as any boy. Not like this. Not like she feels when Maggie is nearby.

It's with a start that Alex realizes that she wants Maggie to be the one to kiss her at midnight, all joking aside. She wants Maggie's lips on hers to ring in the New Year and the thought terrifies her because she's never even considered, for one second...

"Five...Four...Three..." Maggie's face inches closer to Alex's as the countdown comes to a close and 2005 begins to envelop them. Alex's eyes widen at the clear look of... _something_ in Maggie's eyes and she feels like it's a mirror image of her own. She swallows thickly at the thought--the realization--that Maggie might want to kiss her back. Instead of moving away, Alex finds herself leaning in, as well, her hands landing on Maggie's shoulders. "Two....One...HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Their lips brush as soon as the shouts surround them, along with the sounds of noise makers and party poppers. Confetti flutters around them, but neither girl notices or even cares, really, as their lips press together.

The kiss doesn't last longer than five seconds into 2005, but when she pulls back, Alex is breathless and Maggie is beaming up at her, her eyes twinkling in that way they do. Alex's entire face feels hot and it's suddenly very hard to even think or hear anything but Maggie's voice, slightly raspy and just as breathless.

"Happy New Year, Danvers," she says, moving out of the circle of Alex's arms.

"Um," Alex replies, swallowing past her knotted tongue. "H-happy New Year, Mags." Before she can work up the nerve to say anything more, she's being pulled away and turned back Kara, who wraps her arms around Alex's shoulders and presses a kiss to her cheek.

"Happy New Year, Alex!" Kara exclaims, nearly deafening her. Alex gives her a soft smile as she hugs back, lifting her off her feet for an instant.

"Happy New Year, little sister," she murmurs back, turning to see Lucy and James embracing Maggie. She catches Maggie's eyes and watches the blush spread across her cheeks. Alex can't help but smile at that.

Maggie smiles back and her heart flutters again, like it always does, but there's something different this time.

Something terrifying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!! I hope you guys liked this chapter. There's going to be a whole lot more gay to come now that they're in their formative years. Here's hoping that 2017 is a better year than 2016.
> 
> The bar has literally never been lower.


	9. Wanna Dance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They don't talk about it and things barely change...until they do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This gets emotional. You have been warned.

**Wanna Dance?**

Barely anything changes. Sort of.

Maggie still holds her hand at school, but there’s something different about the way their fingers fit together perfectly—something _softer_. Maggie’s hugs are tighter and her smiles are brighter and they don’t kiss again (or even talk about the fact that they _have_ kissed), but they both feel the shift.

At least, Alex hopes that Maggie feels it, too.

At school, she tries to focus on her work. A new semester begins and brings with it a lot more Chemistry homework and a new student in her class: Vicky Donahue.

She’s tall and blonde and wears soft, cashmere sweaters and she smells perpetually like vanilla. Her glasses are square and black and her eyes are the deepest blue Alex has ever seen. Her smile is undimpled, but it makes Alex’s heart flutter, all the same.

“Hey,” she greets the day she sits next to Alex in the lab, offering her hand. “I’m Vicky.”

“Danvers,” Alex replies. “Er, I mean, _Alex_. My name is…is Alex. Alex Danvers.”

“Pretty name,” Vicky says, casually, before turning to listen to the teacher.

Alex feels her entire body heat up at that. Her heart starts to pound in her ears and suddenly it’s hard to swallow. Nobody had ever told her that her name was _pretty_. In elementary school— _and middle and high school_ —she’d been teased for having a “boy name” and had, at one point, considered changing it to Lexie. It sounded more feminine and less formal than using the full Alexandra.

Maggie had been the one to convince her to keep Alex. Because she _liked_ Alex, she said. It suited her.

 _And now some girl thinks it’s pretty_.

Alex can’t help but grin at that and the smile stays on her face all day as she and Vicky are assigned as partners and work together to solve a few chemical equations on the board. Vicky is a sophomore, Alex learns, like most of the students here, but she’s impressed at the fact that Alex is just a freshman.

“You must be, like, a prodigy or something,” she comments, resting her chin on her hand and her elbow on the counter as she gazes over at Alex. Alex is too focused on her notebook to really pay attention (and she’s desperately trying not to blush), but she shrugs.

“I just really like science,” she says. Vicky giggles and Alex feels butterflies in her stomach as she fights to swallow past the lump in her throat.

Finally, the bell rings for the next period and she puts together all of her things in record speed, saying a quick farewell to Vicky before she makes a beeline for the exit.

“Wait.” It’s not a shout or even really a command, but Alex finds herself rooted to the spot just inside the door to the classroom. It takes nearly ten full seconds for Vicky to reach her and slip a paper into her palm. “Here’s my number,” she says and Alex nearly drops her books. “So we can go over our projects and stuff, you know? Maybe we can meet up and do homework together, too.” Vicky shrugs. “I’m new here, so I don’t really know a lot of people.” Alex looks up at her and notices the slight pinkness on Vicky’s cheeks and her shy glances at her feet. “I mean, I know you probably have your own group of friends to hang out with, but maybe you’d like to show me around sometime?” Vicky looks up into Alex’s eyes and they’re so tentative and soft and open and Alex’s head nods without her permission. Vicky gives her a bright smile. “Great!” she says. “I’ll see you later, then. Bye, Alex Danvers.”

She disappears then, leaving a trail of vanilla behind her. Alex turns to watch her go, her feet carrying her out of the classroom, her eyes wide and dazed and her hand clutching a bright pink post-it note.

“Hey, Danvers, you okay?” Alex jumps and whips around to see Maggie smirking at her, like she always does after Chemistry. She swallows, crumpling the note in her fist and shoving it into her pocket, before offering Maggie a nervous grin. Her heart still flutters whenever she sees her best friend, but she’s not used to it fluttering around other girls, too.

“Yeah,” she says, clearing her throat. “I’m fine. I just…I’m trying to get used to being back in school, you know? We had a long break.”

“It was less than two weeks, nerd,” Maggie teases, reaching for her hand. Alex lets her take it and feels that familiar tingle as their fingers automatically interlace. “Come on; we’re gonna be late for English.”

“Now who’s the dork?” Alex teases easily as she’s led down the hall towards the Languages Building.

“Still you.”

* * *

 

By the time lunch rolls around, Vicky Donahue is a faint memory in the back of Alex’s mind. Her place at the forefront is taken, once again, by Maggie Sawyer, who sits too close and not yet close enough, leg brushing Alex’s under the table. Alex hides her smile in her sandwich and shoots James dirty looks when he sends her knowing smiles. She’s grateful, though; she doesn’t know what this thing is between her and Maggie, but she’s glad that at least James seems to approve.

Not that she needs anybody’s approval at all, really. But it’s still nice.

They’re in the middle of discussing his latest Photography project when a familiar voice makes the hair on the back of Alex’s neck stand up and she looks up, her cheeks stuffed with turkey and swiss on rye, to see Vicky Donahue standing there, holding a tray with the cafeteria’s baked mac n’ cheese. She gives Alex a sheepish smile.

“Mind if I sit with you guys?” she asks.

Alex shakes her head, slowly, on instinct and Vicky gives her that winning smile, before placing her tray down next to Alex’s and lowering herself, delicately, onto the bench. “Hi,” she says, to all the curious glances. “I’m Vicky. I’m a friend of Alex’s.” Alex feels a shiver run down her spine at the word _friend_ coming from Vicky Donahue’s lips.

“We have Chemistry together,” Alex explains. She clears her throat. “Th-the class, I mean.” Her face turns red and James hides his snort in his Jell-O. Alex kicks him underneath the table. He chokes a bit, but recovers quickly.

“Nice to meet you, Vicky,” he replies, his usual charming self. “I’m James. This is Lucy.” He beams at his girlfriend, who smiles back and offers Vicky her hand.

Lena, who’d been sitting next to Lucy, reading silently, looks up and gives the older girl a shy smile. “Lena,” she greets, offering her hand.

“Aren’t you a bit young for high school?” Vicky asks, not unkindly. “And _Dante’s Inferno_?”

“Lena’s a braniac,” Lucy says, squeezing her shoulder affectionately.

“And it’s required reading,” Lena adds, lifting the book. Her tone is defensive and Alex can’t really blame her. Most of the people in school have gotten over the fact that she’s younger—and smaller—than the rest of the student population. She’s only twelve and already a high school freshman? Old news, for the most part.

“Impressive,” Vicky says, with a nod and an approving smile. Lena’s shoulders relax and she gives her a dimpled grin, her green eyes shining proudly.

“Maggie Sawyer,” Maggie greets, leaning across Alex’s lap to shake Vicky’s hand last. Alex can feel the hand she rests, protectively, on her thigh and she nearly chokes on her next bite of sandwich. Maggie squeezes and gives her a look of concern, then removes the hand to pat her on the back.

“I’m okay,” Alex assures her with a small smile. “Thanks.”

Maggie smiles that soft, dimpled grin and places her hand back on Alex’s thigh, which sends shivers throughout the taller girl’s body and causes her to bite back an affectionate grin as she goes back to her sandwich.

She barely misses the curious gaze Vicky sends her way.

* * *

 

Vicky ends up becoming one of their tightknit group. She sits with them at lunch and talks books with Lena and art with James and bonds with Lucy over their fathers being in the armed forces. Even Maggie warms up to her, eventually, but Alex can still feel the jealousy radiating off her in waves. She keeps her hands planted on Alex’s thigh or hip all throughout lunch and holds Alex’s hand as they walk out of the cafeteria. It makes Alex feel…strange. She likes it, but they still haven’t spoken about what it means and that’s a little bit frustrating.

Especially, months later, when some kind of spring dance is announced and she watches James ask Lucy to go with him with a bouquet of red roses, but Maggie doesn’t even suggest the idea of them going together. Vicky gets asked by a junior boy that Alex doesn’t know very well and she fights back the slight tinge of jealousy when she remembers that she could still very well go with Maggie—even though the other girl continues to ignore her hints.

Alex is starting to come to terms with the fact that she likes girls—or, at least, that she likes _two_ girls. And she doesn’t really like any boys yet, but that doesn’t stop her from smiling at Max Lord when he flirts with her after Chemistry. She twirls her hair, like she’s seen other girls do, and laughs at his unfunny jokes and smiles too wide.

And maybe that makes Max like her, because before she knows it, she’s receiving a note in the middle of a lecture about covalent bonds asking her to be his date to the dance. There are boxes to check (“Yes”, “Definitely Yes”, and “No” with a frowny face next to it), but Alex doesn’t make a single mark on the paper. Instead, she places it in her pocket and walks out of the classroom to meet Maggie after the bell rings.

Like always, Maggie takes her hand. This time, however, it’s Alex in the lead. She guides Maggie towards the nearest bathroom and before Maggie can ask her what’s happening, she’s showing her the note.

“What’s this?”

“It’s from Max Lord,” Alex whispers. “He asked me to the dance.”

Maggie’s eyes widen at that. “Wh-what did you say?” she asks, furrowing her brow up at Alex. She makes no move to open the note.

“Nothing,” Alex replies, “not yet. I…what should I say?”

She’s hoping that Maggie won’t answer. She’s praying that Maggie will just rip the note in half and toss it in the garbage. A small part of her hopes that Maggie will finally woman up and ask her to the dance herself. Or kiss her.

(Preferably, both.)

But Maggie does none of those things. Instead, Maggie hands her back the note. “Whatever you want to say,” she says. “Do you want to go to the dance with him?”

“I’m…I’m not sure,” Alex replies, trying to gauge Maggie’s reaction. “Do you think I should?”

Maggie shrugs. “Why not?” she asks. “I mean, he’s handsome and he’s a sophomore and a lot of the girls at school seem to like him. Why wouldn’t you want to go with him to the dance?”

Maggie’s eyes meet hers and Alex can swear she sees a dare in them. As if she’s daring Alex to admit to the thing that they _both_ know is between them, but neither will voice aloud. But, of the two of them, Maggie has always been the bravest.

But not the most stubborn.

So Alex takes out a pen and opens up the note and _very clearly_ checks “Definitely Yes” on it, glancing up at Maggie’s face. A shadow of hurt passes over it, before it’s replaced by a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Then it’s settled,” Maggie says, her voice quiet. The bell rings and she sighs. “Come on,” she says. “We’re late for English.” She doesn’t take Alex’s hand this time.

In fact, they don’t hold hands for the rest of the week.

* * *

 

On the night of the dance, Lena and James and Lucy all arrive at the Danvers household, where Jeremiah and Eliza bombard them with cameras. Lena had asked Kara to go with her to the dance so that “at least there’ll be somebody my age there I can talk to. No offense, Lucy.” Lucy just rolls her eyes and laughs, pulling both girls into her side as she smiles for Eliza’s camera.

“Where’s Max?” James whispers to Alex when nobody’s paying attention.

“He’s not coming,” Alex whispers back, opening her clutch to show him the note that she never gave back to him.

James’s eyes widen. “And Maggie?” he asks. Alex shrugs. “You two are idiots.”

“I know,” Alex sighs with a wry smile.

“Smile!” Jeremiah says, appearing in front of them with his camera in front of his face. James pulls Alex into a tight hug and she pretends to struggle.

* * *

 

The dance is in full swing when they get there and James and Lucy eye the dance floor, though they’re reluctant to leave Alex with the only two preteens at the party—who are already getting stares and laughs—but she waves them off.

“Go have fun,” she says. “I’ll babysit the kids.”

“Hey!” Kara exclaims.

“Rude,” Lena agrees.

Alex snorts and leads them to one of the tables off to the side. She sits and talks with them for a little while, watching Kara shovel hors d’oeuvres into her mouth as Lena gives her a look of something between awe and disgust. When the music shifts to some upbeat boy band that Kara loves, she jumps up and grabs Lena’s hand for a dance.

“We’ll be right back!” she calls over her shoulder to Alex, who waves her off.

“I’ll be right here,” Alex sighs, picking at Kara’s leftovers. She munches on a pot sticker as she gazes around the room, easily spotting Max Lord with his date—a girl whose name Alex doesn’t know and doesn’t really care to know—who he asked out literally the day after he realized Alex wasn’t going to the dance with him.

 _Too bad Maggie never got the hint_.

It’s not fair and Alex knows it. After all, there was nothing stopping her from asking Maggie to the dance. But there was also nothing stopping Maggie from acting so possessive for the last couple of months, either. Nothing to stop Maggie from actually trying to have a conversation about what they were to one another. Nothing to stop Maggie from kissing her again.

Nothing to stop them from actively being together except for their own stubborn stupidity.

“Hey.” Alex jumps and turns in her seat, finding Maggie Sawyer standing before her, in a dark red dress. Her hair is up in a messy bun and she’s wearing diamond studs in her ears and ballet flats and Alex can see the scar on her arm from when she’d fallen out of a tree in the fourth grade. It’s white against her tan skin, but it doesn’t come close to marring her beauty. If anything, it only adds to how tough and beautiful she is and _jeez, Danvers, you’ve got it bad._

“Hey,” Alex replies. They haven’t spoken many words to each other since she showed Maggie the note from Max Lord and suddenly Alex regrets every second she wasn’t holding her hand. Every dimpled smile she had missed. Every brown-eyed twinkle.

“Can we talk for a minute?” Maggie asks, looking nervous as her eyes shift around the room. “In private?” Alex nods and stands, allowing Maggie to guide her out of the room.

Their hands don’t touch.

They walk down the hall and turn the corner, where there’s nobody there and they can just barely hear the faint sound of the next song starting. It’s a group number and Alex is certain that Kara’s still pulling Lena around the dance floor, giggling.

“What did you want to talk abo—”

Alex’s words are cut off by Maggie’s lips and she is shocked stiff, the clutch purse dropping to the floor at their feet. The kiss lasts a fraction of a second longer than the last one and it takes Alex’s breath away just the same. She’s missed the way Maggie’s lips make hers tingle like that.

When Maggie pulls away, Alex almost follows, but then Maggie is too far and she’s pacing and wringing her wrists and Alex can swear that there are tears in her eyes and she just wants to grab her and hold her still and tell her that everything’s okay, but she has no idea what’s wrong. So she waits.

When Maggie turns back to her, there’s a look of determination in her eyes. She takes a deep breath.

“I’m gay,” she blurts and Alex’s eyes widen at the declaration. “I’ve known it for a while and I…well, I figured you knew it, too, considering…” she motions between them and Alex finds herself nodding. “It’s the natural assumption, you know? After you kiss a girl. Twice, now. But I…I was kind of in denial. Sort of. I mean, like, I’ve kind of _always_ known. I never had any crushes on boys or wanted to hold their hand—not the way I like holding your hand—and I’ve pretty much punched every guy that’s ever tried to come near me. And I even rinsed my mouth out with mouthwash when Jake’s friend kissed me, but I didn’t do that with you. No, I...I…I _treasured_ that kiss. And I know that, no matter what happens right here and right now, I’m going to treasure this one, too. Because I’m gay. I am really, incredibly, truly gay and I will _never_ like boys and that’s okay, right?” She looks at Alex, who’s still stunned. “Right,” Maggie decides. “Only…it’s not. Because my dad is super-religious and my aunt is _totally_ against gay marriage and thinks that people like me should burn in hell and my mom…I don’t even know what my mom’s stance on it is, because it’s not something we _talk_ about in my house. I mean, she watches Ellen and she thinks that her relationship with that model woman is cute, but I’m not sure if she’d be okay with them getting married or even if she’d be open to having a gay kid, but maybe she would? I don’t know. I’m just rambling now, but the point is that I’m gay and I like girls and, more importantly, I like you. And I like kissing you. And I like holding your hand and seeing you smile and I like that little snort you do when you laugh too hard and I like it when you wear glasses, because I think that you look really cute in them. And I like that blue dress you’re wearing because blue really brings out your eyes, which is weird because your eyes are brown, but it works for you, somehow, and I really need you to say something because I’m running out of air.” She stops and takes a deep breath, her chest expanding with it. She turns to find Alex smiling at her, head tilted to the side and hands curled against her chest, a soft smile on her lips.

“So,” Alex says, taking a step forward, “you’re saying you…like me?”

“In layman’s terms, yes,” Maggie chuckles, her cheeks turning pink. “I like you, Alex Danvers. And I wanted to ask you to the dance, I really did. I just…I didn’t know how to. Because I didn’t know if you liked girls the way _I_ like girls and I wasn’t ready to come out to my dad and I didn’t really know if you would want to come out to your mom and I…I realize that none of that really matters now. Because, yes, I really do like you, Alex.” She pauses. “Do you like me?”

Alex presses her lips together and fights back the tears that are burning at the corners of her eyes. She’s never like romantic comedies. She knows a lot of other girls do—Lucy and Kara have dragged the rest of them to more than she can count—but she always thought that they were cheesy and forced and that things like that—big, sweeping gestures and romantic speeches—didn’t really happen in real life.

But she was so, _so_ wrong.

“Yes,” she decides, her voice a little bit shaky. “I do like you, Maggie Sawyer. I like you a lot.”

Maggie’s shoulders sag. “That’s such a relief,” she says. Alex chuckles and takes another step forward, reaching out to cup Maggie’s cheeks, stroking tears away with her thumbs, and leans in until their noses brushing.

“You have no idea,” Alex whispers, just before her lips come down on Maggie’s, for their third and most breathtaking kiss, to date.

It lasts longer than the first two combined and they’re both panting for breath when they pull back, but they’re also both smiling and their eyes are shining with unshed tears, and their hands are cupping each other’s faces and it’s so completely perfect.

In the distance, Alex hears the shift of the music from loud and upbeat, to soft and slow and she smiles down at Maggie—her best friend, her…girlfriend? They’ll have to talk about it later—and pulls away, offering her hand and giving her a dramatic bow.

“Care to dance?” she asks. Maggie smiles and accepts the offered hand, allowing Alex to tug her all the way back to the gymnasium, where they quickly make their way to the floor.

Nobody looks at them weird or calls them names or makes them feel bad for dancing with each other. Because they’re Alex and Maggie and Midvale High is not a big place. Everybody knows them there and knows how close they are; it’s not odd to see two friends slow-dancing together. It’s not weird that Sawyer and Danvers are dancing with their bodies close together or that Maggie’s head is on Alex’s shoulder and their feet are barely moving at all. They sway to the beat of the music with their arms around each other and nobody even realizes the shift.

Well, almost nobody.

One tall, dark-skinned boy notices, as he pulls his own girl close and smiles at his friends over her head.

One tall, blonde sophomore girl notices, as she rests her head on the shoulder of an equally blond boy. She, too, smirks knowingly at the pair as she relaxes into her date’s arms.

One medium-height boy with dark brown hair furrows his brow at them and wonders why the taller of the two girls had denied him just to spend the night dancing with a girl she sees all the time, anyway. He makes a note to find out.

Two girls watch from a table, both smiling faintly. One girl sighs as she eyes her older sister, who smiles happily in the arms of the other girl. And her friend…her friend watches her more than the pair. Her friend’s bright green eyes remain on her throughout the entire thing as she wonders… _What if_?

And the two girls dance together, completely wrapped up in one another, uncaring of anybody else’s eyes on them as they sway in the center of the dance floor. And it’s perfect, if only for a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I just wanna take a moment and say that I am in no way trying to diminish Alex's canonical coming out story on the show, because it's so well-written and is actually the same as my story. Like, I felt exactly the way Alex felt and ended up pushing away one of my really good friends because I couldn't reconcile my feelings and it was just a big mess until I realized that, hey, I like girls and that's okay and that's normal and wow, it feels so good to be honest with myself. 
> 
> That being said, a big part of her story was never considering that she might like girls--or considering it, but being terrified to admit it to herself because homosexuality has always had this stigma attached to it, especially for young girls who are almost perpetually sexualized and made to think that 'experimenting' is natural, but they'll obviously like boys--and Alex might have come out in her teens if she had somebody there going through the same thing as her and possibly helping her to feel more relaxed with her feelings. In this story, Alex also comes to the realization, on her own, that she likes girls (at least two girls) and that she really doesn't like boys and that she's just imitating the behaviors of other girls (also something I did, which led me to believe I was bi/pan) and I'm just trying to make it as realistic as possible for anybody that might be in their teens, reading this.
> 
> Your feelings are valid. YOU are valid. It's okay to like girls if you're a girl. It's okay to like boys if you're a boy. It's okay to like both. It's okay to like neither. It's okay. You deserve to feel confident and to find love with whomever you want (as long as it's consensual, of course) and nobody should make you feel like less for it. If you feel the need to stay in the closet, that's okay, too. Everybody moves at their own pace. In this story, Alex is fifteen when she comes out (to herself and Maggie) about her sexuality and feelings. In the show, she's in her late twenties. I am twenty-two and I just realized it. Everybody moves at their own pace and it's okay. We all deserve full, happy lives.
> 
> And we all reserve the right to kiss the girls (or boys) that we wanna kiss.
> 
> Thanks for reading. There's more Sanvers and Superlena to come.


	10. The Weight of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did somebody say short and angsty?
> 
> (literally nobody said that but too bad)

**The Weight of the World**

School is nearly over for the year when Alex finally works up the nerve to tell her parents—and Kara—about her and Maggie. She plans it around family dinner, when she knows that everybody is home. Her parents are finished with whatever project they’re working on and her father doesn’t leave for his business trip for another week and she can’t wait another _second_ to tell them. It feels like there’s a boulder the size of Australia sitting on her shoulders and any time she looks at her parents, it seems to get heavier.

Before long, she knows that it will be difficult to not blurt it out the second her lips part, so she needs to do it now, before it gets any more difficult to keep it to herself. She’s certain that Kara is already aware of her relationship with Maggie (she’s seen enough of the way they interact to know that they’re not just best friends anymore) and it must be some kind of minor miracle that she hasn’t let it slip to their parents, considering she is the _worst_ at secrets.

(Alex can’t even count how many times Kara has almost started a sentence with “Back on my home planet” in the years since she arrived on Earth and Alex has had to laugh it off as some kind of weird, inside joke between them.)

Eliza makes baked chicken with bell peppers and potatoes and Jeremiah tosses a salad and Kara and Alex set the table together, like most nights where they’re all home for family dinner. Usually, though, one or both of their parents has to stay late at the lab or travel out of town for a day or two, so the girls are left with a little money for takeout or precooked meals in the fridge or oven, to heat up. It’s nice to have a freshly cooked meal—even if Kara _is_ morning the absence of her beloved pot stickers.

When they finally sit down to eat, Eliza asks if they learned anything new as Jeremiah doles out the plates. He gives each of them a chicken thigh—two for Kara—and a spoonful of potatoes and peppers—three for Kara—and listens attentively as Kara tells them about the book that she and Lena have been reading together after school and all the cool short stories they get to read in her English class. Even Alex offers her a smile as she listens to her little sister go on and on about Hawthorne and E.B. White and _how cool it is_ that she can finally read at the same level as all the other kids in her class.

“Oh! And Mrs. Lowman said that I might qualify for the Honors class next year!” she tells them, excitedly, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

“That’s amazing, Kara!” Jeremiah says. “We’re very proud of you.”

“Yes, we are,” Eliza agrees. “We’ll have to celebrate when Jeremiah gets back in town, won’t we?” She smiles over at her husband and Jeremiah nods.

“Can you make your chocolate pecan pie?” Kara asks, her eyes wide and twinkling as she gazes up at Eliza.

“I don’t see why not,” Eliza replies, smiling.

Alex can swear she sees the younger girl begin to float and she snorts, shaking her head. “Wipe your mouth, Kara,” she says. “You’re drooling.”

Kara frowns at her and sticks her tongue out—to which Alex retaliates, of course—and then they go back to eating, each hiding a tiny grin.

“So, how about you, Alex?” Jeremiah asks. “Anything new in your life, superstar?”

Alex can’t help but grin at the childhood nickname. He’d taken to calling her that a lot more often after they adopted Kara, so as not to allow her to feel inadequate in comparison to the girl that could literally fly and touch the stars. It hadn’t stopped and she really doesn’t want it to. She loves being ‘superstar’ even if she rolls her eyes every time he says it.

This time, the nickname adds another layer of anxiety to what is already a stressful night for her. Alex’s hand trembles a bit as she brings a piece of potato and chicken to her mouth and chews slowly, giving herself a bit of time to answer his question. She takes a deep breath and chases the food down with some water, before glancing over at her father. Jeremiah is smiling openly at her, giving Alex his full attention and suddenly her mouth is dry and her eyes return to the food on her plate.

“Alex?” Jeremiah asks. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

She doesn’t answer, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Alexandra?” Eliza asks, sounding worried. She feels her mother’s hand land on hers and Alex closes her eyes, tightly, for a long moment. She feels the words rise, like vomit, from the back of her throat and she takes another deep breath, forcing them back down. She can do this, but it should be because she _wants_ to—not because it’s being forced out of her. Neither of her parents speak again, which to her means that they understand and are giving her time to work out whatever’s on her mind. This is something they’ve always done and Alex feels immediately ridiculous for feeling so nervous about what she’s about to say.

“I don’t like boys,” she says, finally, and it’s not the best way to come out to her parents, but it’s probably the most honest and frank she’s been since she realized it. She still hasn’t said those words aloud, even to herself, and it feels like that boulder shrinks, just a fraction.

“Okay,” Jeremiah says, but there’s a slight question in his voice, as if he’s waiting for her to explain further. Eliza just waits her out.

Alex takes another deep breath, before continuing. “I don’t like boys,” she repeats, “because…because I like girls.”

“Can’t you like both?” Alex looks up and across the table at her 12-year-old sister. Kara’s eyes are a bit wide and her head is tilted, like a puppy’s, in confusion. Her eyebrows are slightly knitted together and her glasses are sliding towards the tip of her nose, but she pays them no mind.

“Of course you can,” Jeremiah says, his voice soft as he turns to her. “But what Alex means is that she _only_ likes girls. Right, superstar?” The nickname causes the boulder to crumble almost entirely and Alex feels like she can breathe easy for the first time in weeks.

“Right,” she says, a small smile on her lips. “That’s…that’s what I meant.” She glances over at her mother, who regards her curiously. “That’s…okay, right Mom?”

“Oh.” Eliza’s eyes widen and she smiles, easily, down at her daughter. “Of _course_ it’s okay, honey. Sexuality is fluid, after all. And humans are not the first species—or the only one—to experience same-sex attraction.”

“Ugh, Mo-om,” Alex groans. “Don’t start science-talking me, _please_.” But she’s smiling. Because her parents accept her. Because Kara’s confusion only stems from the phrasing and she’s otherwise okay with the fact that her sister likes girls (she makes a note to learn more about Krypton and if it was anything like Earth in the ‘mating’ department) and her parents’ eyes are filled with nothing but love and affection and she hopes that Maggie’s coming out is going similarly to this.

She finds out the next day that it hadn’t.

Maggie’s eyes are downcast when Alex walks up to the front of the school to find her sitting on the stairs, her knees tucked against her chest and her chin resting on her arm, making herself as small as possible. A knot forms in the pit of her stomach as Alex stops in front of her and studies her for a long moment. She looks so small and frail and sad and it breaks Alex’s heart and she wants to punch whomever made her look like that (even though she knows that she probably can’t take on her girlfriend’s father, despite the fact that he’s totally old school and would never deign to put his hands on a girl) and all she has to do is sigh and then Maggie is looking up and meeting her eyes and then launching herself into Alex’s arms, sobbing against her shoulder as Alex tries to comfort her and keep her own tears at bay.

“It’s okay,” she soothes, rubbing Maggie’s back and holding her as tightly as possible—as tightly as Maggie is holding her. “Everything is going to be okay.”

And Alex holds her until the bell rings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never feel like you HAVE to come out right away. There are always circumstances to consider. Is it safe to come out? Is it the right thing for right now? Will it improve your well-being? Will it make your life easier/more manageable? Can you survive not coming out right now? 
> 
> You choose the pace; nobody can pressure you and anybody who outs you when they know that it could potentially endanger your life is not a true friend. 
> 
> As always, you are valid. I love you all. Thanks for reading.
> 
> There will be more (angst) to come ;-)


	11. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This starts emotional and ends sappy

**Changes**

Alex is 15 years old when her world comes crashing down without her.

She is 15 years old when she says goodbye to her father for the last time, hugs him goodbye before he has to leave for his business trip, makes him promise to bring her something from wherever he’s going (she can’t remember where he said, but it was someplace exotic, where he would be making a difference with his work), tells him she loves him.

She’s 15 years old when she hears, “I love you, too, Superstar,” for the very last time.

She’s at Maggie’s house, sitting on the front steps, eating ice cream with her and Kara and Lena and Lucy, when her phone rings. She’s in the middle of laughing about something Maggie had said as she answers the phone. She stops laughing when she hears her mother’s sobs, hears the sniffles and the gravel in her throat as she tries to clear it.

She hands her ice cream to Maggie as she stands and walks away from the group, ignoring their soft questions as she asks Eliza what’s wrong. She’s 15 years old when she collapses on her girlfriend’s front lawn, the phone slipping from her palm and falling with a soft thump onto the grass. She’s 15 years old when Maggie’s father—who hasn’t said two words to either of the girls since they came out of the closet over two weeks ago—carries her to his truck and drives her home, while Maggie and Kara and Lucy attempt to wake her up.

Alex Danvers is 15 years old when she wakes up in her living room with her head in her mother’s lap and a cool washcloth on her forehead, and her entire world in shambles around her. Because her father is gone.

And he’s not coming back.

Alex Danvers is 15 years old when she has to hold the hands of two of the most important people in her life and hold back the tears as they lower her father’s casket—empty, because they hadn’t recovered a body from the wreckage of his plane crash—into the ground. She’s 15 years old when she stops being ‘superstar’ and starts being angry with the world.

A week after Jeremiah’s funeral, she has her first fight with her mother. It’s over Kara. Over the fact that Alex ‘let’ her twelve-year-old sister go over to Lena Luthor’s house, even though they _both_ know that she’s not allowed to go anywhere near Lillian and Lionel Luthor’s home. Because as long as Kara and Lena have been friends, she’s still convinced that they’re going to try to harm their daughter’s friend—or somehow learn her secret.

Alex tries to point out the flaws in her logic. Tries to point out that they know nothing about Kara’s powers. Tries to point out that they’re never home anyway; that it’s always just Gerta and Lena, anyway and they both _adore_ Kara. Tries to point out that _Kara_ knows that she’s not allowed over at Lena’s, too, but she went anyway and _why are you blaming me, Mom? It’s not like I told her to!_

She can’t understand why her mother yells at her, _rages_ at her, and goes on and on about how _irresponsible_ Alex is; how untrustworthy. Alex holds back tears for probably the hundredth time in a week as she storms out of the kitchen, where Eliza had pretty much had her cornered, stomps up to her room, and changes into her wetsuit, grabs her surfboard, and storms back down and out of the house.

Kara watches from the living room, tears in her eyes, and winces when Alex slams the door shut and Eliza yells after her. After a long moment of silence, she follows her sister out to the beach.

Alex is already riding waves by the time Kara gets there and so she waits. She plants herself in the sand, digging her toes into their warmth, watches her sister move gracefully through the water, and waits for her to return to the shore.

She spends hours out there, just watching Alex surf. The sun begins to set and she can see Alex’s lips start to turn blue as the sun sets, but she’s stubborn; she surfs until she can barely paddle back to shore.

When Alex sees Kara sitting there, in the sand, waiting for her, she almost cries for real this time. Almost drops to her knees at her sister’s feet and falls into her lap. Almost lets Kara hold her and comfort her and tell her that everything’s going to be alright, because she knows that Kara would do that for her. She knows it with everything in her; every inch of her body.

But she doesn’t. Because _she_ is the big sister. Because _she_ is the one that is supposed to comfort Kara. Because _she_ needs to be strong, for her baby sister. Because her baby sister lost the second father she’s ever known. She’s lost two fathers now, in the most heartbreaking of ways, and now is not the time for Alex to be selfish.

So instead Alex gives Kara a shaky smile and holds out her hand, squeezing the younger girl’s fingers as she pulls her to her feet and guides her back to their house. Kara leans into Alex’s body, not saying anything, but wrapping her arm around her waist and pressing her body against her sister’s side as they walk together. And Alex has to swallow past the lump in her throat and look up for a moment, but she’s okay. She’s good.

She won’t cry. Because Kara makes things a little easier to handle.

* * *

 

Alex Danvers is still 15 years old when she sneaks out of the house early in the morning and walks a mile to the nearest Rite Aid. There, she buys makeup and hair dye and bleach.

And an electric razor.

When she gets to Maggie’s house, her girlfriend is already outside, waiting with a mug of coffee, still in her pajamas. She gives Alex a tired smile and a soft kiss and leads her inside.

The house is empty. Because Mr. Sawyer is at work and Mrs. Sawyer is visiting family and Abby has lacrosse practice and Maggie’s other sisters are away at college still. They have the whole house to themselves and usually that means playing video games or making out on the couch or just _being together_ without worrying about Mr. Sawyer giving them the evil eye, but this time it means something entirely different.

Maggie pulls out a chair for Alex in the kitchen and they get to work. Neither of them talk much as it’s happening; they’ve spoken about this enough over the last few weeks for it to not be a necessity any longer.

“Is it supposed to burn?” Alex asks, startling Maggie halfway through.

“Yeah,” Maggie replies. “That’s what Lindsey said, anyway.”

Alex accepts that answer and lets it burn.

(She is so incredibly relieved, though, when Maggie finally washes the bleach out.)

When it’s completely finished, Maggie hands Alex a mirror and she gasps at her reflection. Her eyes fill with tears at the sight of herself. Her hair is shaved on the sides, leaving only a long, straight line going back in the center; a mohawk. A _green_ mohawk. Alex stares at herself for a long moment, feeling her breath start to become shallow.

Oh, her mother is going to _kill her_.

Maggie must sense her impending panic, because suddenly the shorter girl’s arms are around her waist and her chin is on her shoulder, which means she’s probably standing on her tiptoes.

“You look pretty badass, babe,” she whispers in Alex’s ear and Alex fights back a blush and the shiver that runs down her spine as she smiles at Maggie’s reflection in the hand mirror.

“Really?” she asks. “You do?”

Maggie nods and Alex turns to look down at her, leaning forward to peck her lips, before pressing their foreheads together. She has so many things she wants to say to Maggie and they’re all bubbling at the back of her throat, but she knows that it’s too soon to say any of them. They’ve only been dating a couple of months and they’re still so young and this is still so new and…and all Maggie did was dye and cut her hair.

It’s not the right time. But one day…

“You know,” Alex says, instead, a smile on her lips, “we could match.”

Maggie snorts. “My dad would _kill_ me if I got a mohawk,” she snorts. “It’s bad enough I got myself a girlfriend.” She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, still grinning. “But maybe…a pixie?”

“You would look totally adorable with a pixie cut,” Alex assures her.

“Am I not adorable now?” Maggie asks, giving her a pout.

“You’re alright,” Alex deadpans, shrugging her shoulders. Maggie scowls and punches her in the shoulder and Alex laughs, grabbing her fist and pressing her lips to Maggie’s knuckles. “Seriously, though,” she says. “You’ll look so great.”

Maggie flushes at that. “Alright,” she says, after a long moment. “Then let’s do it.”

* * *

 

Alex is 15 years old when she walks down the hall during her last week of Freshman Year, holding her girlfriend’s hand, sporting a [deep green mohawk](http://cassiebones.tumblr.com/post/155725579092/a-little-self-made-fanart-of-my-girls-in-chapter), and smiling genuinely for what feels like the first time in forever. Her mother had been plenty angry, but hadn’t killed her when she saw the color and style of her hair. She’d just counted backwards from ten and taken deep breaths as she crossed her arms disapprovingly.

Kara had been fascinated, reaching up to run her fingers through Alex’s colorful waves, pushing them back before letting them flop over Alex’s eyes again. Both girls had laughed and Eliza’s tense shoulders had relaxed.

Alex had paired her new hair with a few of Abby Sawyer’s old rocker tees and a pair of ripped jeans that she’d found at a thrift shop. She wears a plaid flannel around her waist to complete the look and is certain that, if nobody knew she was gay before, they certainly know it now. She gets a few disapproving looks from her fellow students, but she couldn’t care less.

Because she’s holding Maggie Sawyer’s hand. Maggie Sawyer, who let Alex cut her hair short, shaving the back and sides a little—but not enough to turn her pixie into a mohawk—and bleach the fringe over her left eye, then dye it the same shade green as Alex’s own hair. Maggie Sawyer, who wears a blue flannel with rolled up sleeves over a _Nirvana_ t-shirt and a pair of homemade ripped and paint-splattered jeans. Maggie Sawyer, who is her girlfriend and best friend rolled into one tiny package.

Maggie Sawyer, who is the girl she loves and can’t imagine her life without.

Maggie Sawyer, who is one of the few things in her life that hasn’t changed.

Maggie Sawyer; the girl she loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for anybody who has ever had to struggle with personal loss of a loved one--especially a parent or guardian. 
> 
> Jeremiah's loss will be dealt with in future chapters, because loss takes a while to process and we haven't really seen Kara's side to this. I don't want to brush over it because this is something that Alex and Kara and Eliza will obviously have to deal with for the rest of their lives (until they learn about Cadmus and all that, of course) and Alex will eventually have to learn to express her emotions about it. So here's a question for you guys: Should she see a therapist?
> 
> Another thing: I'm a ghostwriter so I'm currently working on other projects which means that I may not finish this story or update as soon as I'd like to so please be patient with me. I'm also attempting to work on my own novel and trying to get it published this year (fingers crossed), so if you want to hear more about that you can message me on tumblr (cassiebones) or ask me about it here. I'd love to share details about it with you guys because it's lgbtq+ related and has a similar feel to this fanfic. 
> 
> Anyway, please let me know what you think about this chapter. Thanks for reading!


	12. Enough For Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara deals with the aftermath of losing Jeremiah

Kara had a father on Krypton. He was a good father.

He held her and sang funny songs to her and comforted her when she had nightmares. He rocked her to sleep and read her stories and hugged her when she came home from her first lesson. Zor-el loved his daughter and Kara knew that she was loved. By both of her parents, of course, but it was important to know that she was loved very much by her father.

Her father, who had died with the rest of Krypton. Her father, who had sent her to earth to protect her baby cousin. To save her own life by extension.

Kara doesn’t remember much about Krypton, but she knows that she had parents who loved her. A mother…and a father. A family.

When she got to earth, she had found another family to love her. A mother, a sister, and a father. Eliza Danvers had done everything in her power to make sure that Kara felt safe and comfortable and, most of all, _welcome_ on earth and in their family. She had helped Kara learn how to read and write and _speak_ , fluently, in English and learn Earth’s customs—which are confusing and annoying and even five years later, Kara is still trying to learn.

Alex hadn’t been too thrilled to have an alien living in her house, but she’d still embraced Kara as her sister. She’d held Kara through thunderstorms and tutored her in math and spelling (despite how frustrated and impatient Alex can be, she’s actually a pretty great teacher) and is kinda the best big sister Kara could ever ask for. She loves Alex and she knows that Alex loves her, just as she knows that Eliza loves her.

And she’s certain that Jeremiah loves— _loved_ her. Because Jeremiah Danvers is gone.

The man who asked her, every single day without fail, what she learned at school or how her day went or if she was happy; the man that carried her on his shoulders when she was too small to see over a big crowd at the circus; the man that gave her lead-lined glasses so that her extraterrestrial vision would quit giving her headaches and allow her to focus; the man that took her and Alex to movies and made smiley face pancakes and let her look through his microscope slides when they visited him at the lab and…

 _That man_ is gone. The second man she’s ever looked up to as a father; the second man who’s ever comforted her after a nightmare; the second man who has ever wiped away her tears and told her that everything would be okay is _gone_. He died, just as the first had.

And it _hurts_. It hurts worse than it did the first time.

And she’s not sure how that’s possible, because the man wasn’t even her biological father. She shared no blood with him, no similar facial features or chromosomes or DNA. She wasn’t even the same species as Jeremiah Danvers, but, somehow, she felt more devastated by his death than she did for the fate of her entire home planet.

And it’s _wrong_ and it’s _so not fair_ and Alex is angry all the time and Eliza is sad and they’re always _fighting_ and it’s like Jeremiah’s loss left a hole the size of a crater in their family and it feels like Kara can’t even breathe most days, but nobody seems to notice.

Except Lena.

Lena holds Kara’s hand and hugs her tight and whispers soothing words in her ear. Lena meets her after school and sits on the swings with her for hours and doesn’t say a word as they sway back and forth. Lena wraps her arm around Kara’s waist and kisses her forehead and tells her it’s going to be alright as they amble around town, aimlessly.

For the first time, ever, Kara goes to Lena’s house—even though she knows it’s not allowed—and lays in Lena’s bed while Lena plays with her hair and they watch sappy romantic comedies on TV until it’s dark out and there’s a dozen braids in her hair. For the first time in a week, Kara feels like her world didn’t just crumble into a million tiny pieces.

It all ends when she goes home and Eliza asks her where she’s been and Kara lets it slip that she was with Lena, at her house, where she _knows_ that she’s not allowed to go. She watches Eliza’s face change from shock to anger and she’s certain that she’s about to get yelled at, but then her foster mother turns and yells at Alex, who jumps and starts yelling back and then they’re having their first fight and Kara just stands there and listens to them screaming at each other. Over her. _Because_ of her.

And her world falls apart again. Because Jeremiah isn’t there to break them apart. He isn’t there to comfort Kara and tell her that it’s not her fault, that she should just remember the rules and promise to never do it again, that she just made a mistake. He’s not there and all Kara can do is stand there and watch as Eliza takes out all her anger at Alex. And then Alex storms away, runs up the stairs even while her mother is yelling at her. She hears Alex’s bedroom door slam and then Eliza is quiet for a long moment, her shoulders moving up and down with her angry breaths.

When Alex returns, Eliza starts yelling again but Alex continues to ignore her and slams the door on her way out. Eliza quiets again, then turns and walks, silently and calmly, upstairs. Kara listens to her door slam before she follows Alex.

She watches Alex surf for hours, makes sure that she’s safe and okay.

(None of them are really okay, though.)

* * *

 

 When Alex changes her hair and starts listening to loud, headache-inducing music, Kara is slightly concerned. Because suddenly Alex is moodier and she wears dark makeup and her clothes are all black and plaid and ripped. She paints her fingernails black and rolls her eyes whenever Eliza tries to talk to her and locks herself in her room for hours at a time. Kara tries not to both her, because Alex just lost her father and she’s obviously working through some stuff and she doesn’t want Alex to be upset with her, but it starts to get lonely.

Because when she leaves Lena’s house (which she has stopped telling Eliza that she even visits anymore, despite the guilt she feels for lying), she returns to the Danvers residence and it’s…quiet. Because Eliza has started spending more and more time at her lab and Alex locks herself away and all she can hear is the distant sound of Alex’s music—which, to her, sounds more like pots and pans knocking together than anything resembling a melody—and she’s too scared to knock on her door. Because everything is different.

So she sits alone in the kitchen and she eats whatever she can muster up for dinner and she leaves a little for Alex—who will come out when Kara’s already gone to be, but not before Eliza has returned from work—and she will go to her room and dial Lena’s number and she’ll listen to her best friend read to her, from whatever book she’s studying for her AP English course, until she falls asleep.

Usually, Kara passes out on top of her covers, fully-clothed, with her glasses on and her hair still in a ponytail or a braid or similarly done up because Lena likes to play with it when Kara comes over. Her light is almost always still on.

But she always wakes up with her glasses folded on her bedside table, next to a glass of water. She always wakes up with her hair down and swept away from her face. She always wakes up with the lights off.

She always wakes up wrapped up in her blankets, feeling warm and safe and loved.

And her sister is always softer in the morning. And her sister makes her smiley face pancakes. And her sister burns the batter and cuts the fruit unevenly, but she tries. And she smiles. And she kisses Kara’s forehead and hugs her goodbye before school. And despite their differences—despite the black nail polish and the loud music and the ripped clothing and the moodiness—she’s still Alex and they’re still sisters.

And it’s enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about to get fluffier, don't worry. 
> 
> I finished my last project and I'm starting the next one this week, as well as working on my own stuff and planning another AU (think doctors ;-D) so it might take a while to post, but the fluff is on its way.


	13. Skipping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara gets called into the principal's office for the first time ever. Don't worry, it's not what you think ;-)

**Skipping**

It comes as a surprise to all of them when the principal of her middle school calls Eliza and Kara into his office during the last week of school. For a moment, Kara panics, thinking that she had accidentally broken some rule or somebody had somehow seen her use her powers—even though she’s been _so_ careful—and she’s pacing in front of the office when Eliza arrives.

“I didn’t do it!” Kara insists, her eyes widening as she looks up at her foster mother. “I swear I didn’t do it!”

“What is it they think you did?” Eliza asks, placing a calming hand on Kara’s shoulder.

“I have no idea,” Kara admits, “but I didn’t do it.”

Eliza chuckles. “I believe you, sweetheart. Let’s just wait and see what this is all about before we start panicking, okay?”

“Okay,” Kara replies, taking a deep breath.

It’s not long before the door opens and Principal Paulson is welcoming them into her office, shaking hands with Eliza and offering Kara a mint from the bowl on her desk. Kara accepts it and presses the tiny peppermint candy into the cave of her cheek, gnawing on it nervously as the principal shuffles through the papers on her desk for a long moment.

Finally, Paulson seems to find what she’s looking for and pulls up a sheet of paper, scanning it with her eyes, then smiling up at Eliza and handing it over. Eliza reads over it and Kara forces herself not to lower her glasses and use her X-Ray vision on the paper. When Eliza gasps and her eyes widen, Kara stretches her neck to read it over her shoulder.

She sees her name at the top of the paper.

“What does it say?” she whispers to Eliza.

“It says that you’ve made the Honor Roll every quarter of the school year,” Eliza says, reaching over to place a hand on Kara’s knee. “Good job, kiddo!” Kara beams proudly.

“You should be very proud, Mrs. Danvers,” Principal Paulson says. “Kara is at the top of her class and I’ve noticed that her highest marks are in English and Science; a lot like her older sister.” Kara delights at that. She loves to be compared to Alex—at least, in a positive light. “It’s because of her grades that I am recommending she be placed on the advanced route.”

“What’s that?” Kara asks, looking between Eliza, whose eyes have suddenly gone wide, and Principal Paulson, who is still smiling proudly at her.

Eliza turns to her with softened eyes. “You know how your friend, Lena, skipped a few grades?” Kara nods, smiling at the thought of Lena Luthor, her best friend in the world. “Well, the advanced route is like that.”

“You mean I could skip a grade?” Kara asks, her voice and eyes full of wonder. “Me? Really?”

“Mhmm,” Principal Paulson says. “But we were thinking more like two; send you straight into high school.”

“High school?” Eliza asks. “Already? She’s only twelve.”

“Lena started high school when she was twelve,” Kara points out.

“That’s true,” Eliza concedes, “but are you certain that it’s wise to have her skip two full grades? Why not skip one first and see how it goes?”

“Your daughter’s grades are exceptional, Mrs. Danvers,” the principal says. “And she won’t be the only one accelerated into high school. Several other students, including a boy I believe she’s friends with—Winslow Schott Jr?—will also be accelerated into the same program. The classes will be specialized to get them all up to speed and they’ll be able to start taking AP classes by the time they reach the tenth grade. If any of the students—including Kara—start to fall too far behind, then they will be placed in a lower grade, but I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that. As I’ve said, your daughter is incredibly intelligent and her grades reflect it. If anybody can make it, I’m sure she can.” She smiles at Kara, who beams back. “That is,” Principal Paulson says, returning her gaze to Eliza, “if you’re willing to give her permission.” She pulls out another form and slides it to Eliza.

Eliza looks down at her foster daughter, who’s already giving her _that_ pout and folding her hands in front of her, pleadingly. Eliza has never really been a match for Kara’s big blue eyes in the first place, but paired with that pout? She was a goner.

“You sure this is what you want?” she makes sure to ask before she signs. “It’s going to be hard.”

Kara smiles at her. “The best things in life are also the hardest,” she says. “Jer— _Dad_ taught me that.”

Eliza fights back the tears that threaten to fall from her eyes as she signs the form.

* * *

 

“Lena!”

The youngest Luthor turns as she hears her name and smiles as she sees Kara Danvers running straight toward her. She’s sitting on the front steps of Luthor Manor, a book in her hand. School is over in less than a week and she just has one last book report to turn in. Truthfully, she’s already read _War and Peace_ , but it’s good to brush up.

Kara doesn’t really give her the chance as she reaches down and plucks the heavy novel right out of Lena’s hand—being careful to save her page—and then flings it to the side, reaching down to pull Lena to her feet and pull her into a rib-cracking hug. Despite her inability to breathe, Lena finds herself grinning as she presses her face into Kara’s shoulder and hugs back.

When Kara releases her, Lena takes a deep, dramatic breath and Kara rolls her eyes. “You really don’t know your own strength, do you?” Lena teases, feeling her ribs. Kara blushes and she chuckles, reaching out to take her hand. “It’s okay,” she says. “I’m okay. So what are you so excited about?” Not that Kara isn’t _always_ excited about something, but she’s practically vibrating right now, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, her glasses slipping down her nose. Lena absently reaches up, pushing them up to sit neatly on the bridge and Kara’s cheeks go pink as her eyes widen.

“Um.” Kara looks down and Lena sees the corners of her lips curl up and it makes her heart flutter in her chest. “I, uh, I’m going to high school.”

Lena’s eyes widen at that. “What?” she asks, squeezing Kara’s hand so that her friend looks up at her, blue eyes sparkling. “What do you mean?”

Kara beams up at her. “I got put into an accelerated program,” she informs Lena, proudly. “I’m gonna be in high school next year. With you!”

“Really?” Lena asks, feeling excitement bubble within her.

“Yeah!” Kara says. “Winn’s gonna be there, too! We can have lunch together with you and James and Alex and Maggie and Lucy!” She’s still beaming and bouncing and it’s infectious and Lena’s doing it, too, now. She takes both of Kara’s hands and squeezes.

“Well, this calls for a celebration,” she says. “I think Gerta has some snacks hidden away in the cupboard.”

“Cookies?” Kara asks, squeezing back.

“And chips and popcorn and ice cream,” Lena adds. Kara’s always had a big appetite and an even bigger sweet tooth. Despite the fact that Lena’s mother didn’t exactly approve of sugar, Gerta always kept a secret stash of snacks in the house for them.

Kara’s smile widens and her eyes grow impossibly wider, before she begins tugging on Lena’s hands, leading her towards the front door of her house. “Let’s go!” she exclaims. Lena has just enough time to grab her book before she’s being practically hauled inside by her best friend. “Best day ever!” Kara exclaims.

Lena has to agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm adding more chapters to this because I'm not nearly where I want to be when I finish. Somebody asked me if I was going to bring this into their college years, but if I do, it won't be in this fic. I'd more likely do a sequel of one shots about college life. 
> 
> I kind of wanted Kara to be accelerated because it seems to me that she would have really great grades since she was a pretty intelligent child on Krypton and despite having to learn the language when she got to Earth, I feel like she would be a quick study (especially surrounded by so many smart and caring people, like Lena, Alex, and Winn) so it makes sense to me that she'd skip a grade or two. Also the lesson from Jeremiah was something that I wanted to include. Next chapter is all about Sanvers so stay tuned.


	14. The Talk™

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie and Alex are caught in a compromising position and Eliza figures it's about time they all get The Talk™

**The Talk** ™

Kara’s only a month into her Freshman year of high school when she starts to struggle with Organic Chemistry. She tries to call Winn, but he doesn’t pick up and Lena’s away on a “family vacation” (though Kara is aware that means that her parents are expected at some kind of convention and they’re expected to bring their youngest child along for fancy functions so they seem like they’re not complete failures at being parents—even though they kind of are). Her last option is in the next room, studying with her girlfriend.

Usually, Kara doesn’t like to interrupt Alex when Maggie is over—and especially not when they’re doing their homework—because she gets to spend nights with Alex. Usually, they watch TV together and engorge themselves on snacks and fight over whose turn it is to pick a movie and fall asleep on the couch, snuggled up under a blanket.

Maggie doesn’t really get to do that because her father still refuses to let her sleep over, despite the fact that Alex and Maggie had had plenty of sleepovers before they came out. Even after they started dating, Alex had confided in Kara. They don’t do much more than kiss, anyway.

At least, that’s what Alex had told Kara and Kara believes her older sister, because what reason would Alex have to lie to her. Well, other than the fact that Kara would really rather not hear about what goes on in Alex’s—or Maggie’s—room when nobody else is around. She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue at the mere thought and shakes her head to rid herself of it.

She would really rather not _think_ about what goes on, either.

Still, she needs help in science and her sister is a certified Science Nerd™ and so is her girlfriend, so Kara takes a deep breath and stands up from her desk, padding out the door and across the hall to Alex’s bedroom, her textbook pressed against her chest. She stares at the “KEEP OUT” sign nailed to Alex’s door (which is more for decoration than actual purpose, anyway) for a while before taking another breath and reaching out to turn the knob, tugging the door open.

“Hey, Alex, can you help me with my—OH MY GOD!”

The textbook drops from Kara’s hands as she hastens to cover her eyes and turn around because Alex and Maggie are _definitely not studying_.

Because Alex is sitting at the end of her bed and Maggie? Maggie’s sitting in her lap, knees bracketing Alex’s hips and the front of her shirt wide open and Alex’s face pressed into her chest and _oh god Kara is never going to be able to look either of them in the eye again!_

“Kara!” Alex exclaims. “Don’t you know how to knock?!”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Kara says, keeping her eyes closed as she bends down and fumbles blindly for her textbook while Maggie and Alex hurry to right themselves. Maggie haphazardly buttons her shirt and Alex presses her red face into her hands and Kara _just can’t find her damn textbook no matter how far she reaches what the hell?_

“Kara?” And then she jumps because their mom is _right there_ , coming up behind her and peering into the room. “What’s going on—oh, _hello_.” Eliza’s eyes widen at the sight of Maggie fumbling with the buttons on her shirt and then Alex is flopping back on the bed and rolling so that she falls off, landing on the floor between it and the wall.

“KILL ME NOW!” she exclaims and Maggie can’t help but laugh at that, even as her cheeks grow pinker under Eliza’s gaze.

“I think it’s time I go,” she murmurs, grabbing her backpack and books from Alex’s desk and making a beeline for the door. “See you later, Alex!” she calls. “Bye, Kara. Mrs. Danvers.” But Eliza is blocking her exit and Maggie’s eyes widen, but she can’t quite look her in the eyes, instead focusing her attention on the toes of her boots.

“Not so fast, Maggie,” Eliza says. “I think all of us need to have a talk.”

“Please, no,” Alex grumbles from her alcove. “Mom, I’m _begging_ you.”

“Stop being so dramatic, Alexandra,” Eliza sighs. “Come on now. I’ll be downstairs, waiting.”

“You do that,” Kara says, finally locating her book and pressing it to her chest, “but I kind of have a test tomorrow that I _really_ need to study for, so I’m just gonna—” Eliza reaches out for her arm, tugging gently. Kara could easily shake her off, but she stops, sighs, and turns pleading eyes up to her foster mother. _Please no._

“You too, Kara,” Eliza says. “We _all_ have a lot to discuss.”

Kara lets out a whimper as her shoulders droop and Eliza pats her on the back, before moving to walk down the stairs.

“Thanks a lot, Kara,” Alex groans, but there’s no bite behind her words. She sighs as she pulls herself up into a standing position, her green hair flopping over her eye as she strolls over to her girlfriend and presses a kiss to Maggie’s forehead. “You missed a button,” she says, pointing down. Maggie looks and Alex flicks her nose, laughing. “Made ya look.”

“Jerk,” Maggie huffs, shoving her shoulder. They both laugh, looking into each other’s eyes.

“Okay,” Kara says, breaking the moment. “That would be a lot cuter if I didn’t just see what I saw.”

“Shut up,” Alex grumbles, even as she slings an arm around Kara’s neck and pulls her into her side, ruffling her hair.

“Argh!” Kara grunts. “ _Alex_!” She shoves her away.

Alex just laughs, reaching back for Maggie’s hand, pulling her along after them. If they really have to do this, at least they’re doing it together.

* * *

 

“And this is a dental dam.”

“ _Oh god!”_ Alex whines, pressing her red face into her hands.

“Now, you can buy these at most drug stores, but if you aren’t able to find one, then you can fashion your own using a condom.”

_“Mom, please!”_

“This is important, Alex,” Eliza says. “For all of you. I should have had this talk with you _ages_ ago, but I figured you’d get whatever information you needed from Sex Education at your school. It only just occurred to me that Midvale might not being giving you the _appropriate_ education. I just want you to be protected.”

“We’re not even having sex, though!” Alex exclaims. Maggie is still quietly looking at her shoes.

“Then why was Maggie’s shirt off?” Kara asks, receiving a glare from her older sister. “What?” She pouts and Alex softens.

“Her father…he, uh…” Alex bites her lip, looking over at Maggie, whose cheeks are hot pink. “He…”

“He doesn’t like it when I come home with hickeys,” Maggie murmurs, saving Alex the trouble. Alex reaches over and takes her hand. Maggie gives her a tiny smile. “He threatened to ban me from this house—and Alex from coming to our place—if he saw another one, so Alex thought that if…if we found a place that he wouldn’t be able to see…” she bites her lip, trailing off.

Eliza takes a deep breath. “Oh, thank god,” she says. “I mean, that’s horrible,” she concedes. “And I’ll have to talk to your mother about that, but I’m just…I’m happy that you two are waiting until you’re ready and not trying to rush into it.” She smiles at them when they all flush bright red. “At least until I’m able to teach you about the _many_ STI’s you could contract from vaginal contact.”

“ _Mo-om!”_ both Kara and Alex moan, covering their faces.

“We know all about that, already,” Maggie tells her, still refusing to look Eliza in the eyes. “That’s, like, _all_ they teach us at school. They show us pictures, too, so you really don’t have to worry about us forgoing protection, okay? Please, can this end?”

“No,” Eliza says, simply. “Now we move on to another important issue: consent. Have they gone over the importance of that in Sex Ed?”

Maggie and Alex share a look. “Sort of?” Alex says, turning to look at Eliza. “Mostly about how if somebody says ‘no’ when you ask to have sex with them, then you have to listen to them.”

“And how many times are you supposed to ask?”

“Once?” Maggie asks.

Eliza shakes her head. “You never stop asking,” she informs them. “Every time you remove an article of clothing, every time you touch a new place on their body, and every time you change position, you never stop asking ‘is this okay?’ Understand? You always make sure that your partner is completely okay with everything that’s going on. And if your partner says that they want to stop, no matter what you’re doing you have to stop, okay?” The girls nod and Alex squeezes Maggie’s hand. Eliza turns her attention to Kara, who’s now listening with rapt attention, though her cheeks are still pink. “Do you understand, sweetheart?” she asks. “Whether your partner is male or female, you _always_ ask if they’re okay. You _always_ stop when they tell you to.” Kara nods. Eliza smiles softly. “You can even come up with safe words,” she suggests, “if you want the other to stop.”

“Safe words?” Alex asks. “Isn’t that for, like, BDSM?”

“I am not going to ask how you know about that,” Eliza says, “because I’m pretty sure the school isn’t teaching it and I don’t want to go through the fuss of putting parental controls on your computer. Again.” Alex flushes. “But, yes, safe words are commonly used in…in _that_. But that’s not the only way to use them. Sexual partners—”

_“Oh my god.”_

“—can come up with a system that lets one partner know when the other would like to stop doing whatever they’re doing _immediately_ without saying the word stop. Or to let their partner know that they’d like to slow down for a moment. Any word that isn’t normally said during intercourse—”

_“Why is this my life?”_

“—will do.” Eliza frowns at Alex, who is looking at the sky like she wants the heavens to open up and take her away. “It’s important to have a system in place so that nobody gets hurt. I don’t want any of you to feel like you _have_ to do something that you’re not comfortable with, just because the person you’re _with_ is your significant other or because you feel like it would be wrong of you to stop something happening right in the thick of it. You should never feel responsible for giving somebody else pleasure. Okay?” She looks Alex straight in the eyes until her daughter nods. Then Maggie. Then Kara. “Okay. Now, one last thing before I let you all go.” The girls suppress their signs, relieved that the end is in sight. “Toys.”

 _“Have I done something to piss you off?”_ Alex asks the ceiling. _“Because, if so, I’m sorry. I’m so totally sorry.”_

“Alex, quit it,” Eliza huffs. “This is serious. If you ever use a…a toy with a partner, then just remember to use a condom.”

“Is that it?” Alex asks, wrinkling her nose.

“Do you need me to teach you how to use a condom?” Eliza asks.

“Nope, I think I can figure it out,” Alex says, jumping to her feet. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll be sure to send my therapist’s bill right in your direction. Come on, Mags.”

“Where are you going?” Eliza asks as Alex tugs Maggie up the stairs.

“To my room,” Alex calls back. “To have lots and lots of sex!”

“Alex!” Maggie groans. “That’s not true, Mrs. Danvers!”

Eliza just sighs and shakes her head, placing her hands on her hips as she stands up. “Dinner will be ready in an hour,” she informs them, then looks down at Kara, who’s still seated on the couch. “Do you have any questions, sweetheart?” she asks.

Kara holds up her textbook. “Do you know anything about Organic Chemistry?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to always get consent from your partner and to make sure that it's constant and never go farther than a partner is comfortable with. Also, PLEASE, no matter your gender and/or genitalia situation, ALWAYS USE PROTECTION. I know they kind of pound safe sex into your head in SEX ED (when they're not preaching abstinence, anyway), but it really is important and they never really go over what kind of protection to use when both parties have vaginas. You should still use condoms and dental dams because STI/STD's are still a BIG possibility. 
> 
> Be safe, everybody.
> 
> (send prompts to cassiebones on Tumblr)


	15. Troublemakers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter in which Eliza Danvers is a BOSS and all my girls are heroes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep adding chapters and I'm not sorry; not one bit.

**Troublemakers**

When Eliza gets called to the school, she’s expecting one of her daughters to get an award of some kind. Perhaps Alex got accepted into an advanced science program and she has to sign papers. Or maybe an essay Kara wrote is going to get published and they’re having some sort of ceremony for her. Either way, she’s expecting to be proud of her girls, so she shows up with a smile.

Her smile vanishes, however, when she turns the corner towards the principal’s office and finds _both_ of her daughters sitting on the bench outside, with Maggie, Lena, and a boy she doesn’t recognize. All of them are looking at their feet and Alex is holding both Maggie’s and Kara’s hands, an icepack sitting in her lap, a purple bruise forming around her right eye. Kara’s glasses are cracked and taped in the middle and Maggie has a wad of tissue sticking out of her nose, which looks crooked and possibly broken. Lena is on Kara’s other side, her eyes red and puffy. Her head is leaning on Kara’s shoulder, pressing her nose against her neck. Kara leans her head on hers.

“Alex? Kara?” Eliza asks, concern flooding her eyes as she rushes towards them, dropping to her knees and reaching out to cup their cheeks. “Girls, what happened?”

Alex and Kara eye each other, warily, before they both start speaking at once. Eliza’s eyes widen as she fights to make out what each of them are saying but it’s too much and their voices are mixing together. She puts her hands up.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she says. “Calm down there. Now, one at a time, tell me what happened. Alex?” She looks at her older daughter.

“Some jerk,” she motioned toward the boy, who glared at her, despite his own bruised and battered face, “was picking on Kara. I walked around the corner just as he took a swing at her and…and I blocked him.” Kara squeezes her hand and Alex winces, flinching away from her, but not quite letting go. Eliza suddenly sees the bruised knuckles on both hands. “I gave him a few punches of my own.” At Eliza’s disapproving look, she shrugs. “He wouldn’t stop!”

“He really wouldn’t, Mrs. Danvers,” Maggie butts in. “He was calling us names, too.” She looks back down and frowns at her feet. “Horrible names.” Eliza reaches out, stroking her cheek with her thumb.

“Did he do that to your nose, Maggie?” she asks. Maggie nods and Eliza inspects further. “It doesn’t look too bad,” she says, “but it needs to be set. Do you mind?”

“Is it going to hurt?” Maggie asks.

“Only for a second,” Eliza promises. “But I’m sure you can squeeze Alex’s hand through the pain.” She checks with her daughter, who nods, wrapping her fingers more securely around Maggie’s. The smaller girl nods then and squeezes her eyes shut, allowing Eliza to press her fingers firmly to the sides of Maggie’s nose. “Ready?” Maggie nods and gasps as Eliza presses and pushes her bone back into place, making tears form in her eyes. She squeezes Alex’s hand and the other girl barely even winces. “Very good,” Eliza praises, stroking her hair. Maggie gives her a watery smile and Eliza pulls a tissue out of her pocket, handing it to her, then reaches for Alex’s ice pack. “Do you mind, sweetheart?” she asks. Alex shakes her head and Eliza hands the pack to Maggie. “Keep these on your nose to bring down the swelling, okay?” Maggie nods.

“Thanks, Mrs. Danvers.”

“Anytime, Maggie,” Eliza replies, before turning to Kara, who refuses to meet her eyes. “Kara,” she says, in her warning voice. Kara turns to her with tear-filled eyes. “You know that you’re not supposed to be fighting, sweetie. Why…why would you do this?”

“He was making fun of Lena,” Kara replies, in a quiet voice. “He was calling her really bad names and saying bad words and yelling right in her face. And he…he said she was probably going to go crazy. Just like…like…” She presses her lips togethers as tears began to pour down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” Eliza frowns and strokes a hand through her hair.

“It’s okay,” she says. “Well, actually, no it’s not. You use your words to protect somebody; not your fists, but—”

“I didn’t hit him,” Kara says and Eliza already knows that, because that kid would probably not be alive if Kara had hit him. As battered as his face is, she can tell that Kara hadn’t even touched him. “I was just trying to talk to him, but he was making me so… _angry_. I started yelling and saying mean things back. But I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.” She hangs her head again and Eliza presses a kiss to her forehead.

“It’s alright,” she says, standing up. “I’m going to go talk to your principal and see what we can do to remedy this, she starts making her way into the office, but pauses and looks down at the boy who is sitting separately from the rest of the kids. She doesn’t say anything; just looks at him and shakes her head, suppressing her smirk.

 _Don’t mess with my kids_ , she thinks as she opens the door to the office and steps inside.

*****

“Your daughters have proven to be nothing but trouble, Mrs. Danvers,” the principal says, almost as soon as they sit down.

“ _My_ daughters?” Eliza huffs. “My daughter was standing up for another girl and this boy took a swing at her and hit my _other_ daughter. _Then_ he hit my daughter’s girlfriend. Now, tell me how this could _possibly_ be their fault.”

“Well, your daughters were not exactly innocent in this, either, Mrs. Danvers. And neither was Miss Sawyer. Mr. Harrison has _significant_ damage to his face and his parents—”

“Should be relieved that I’m not suing them,” Eliza interrupts. “Because while their son has a black eye and a couple of well-deserved bruises, my daughter’s glasses are broken beyond repair, my _other_ daughter’s eye is swollen _shut_ , and Maggie Sawyer has a broken nose that I just had to reset out in your hallway. _You_ should be worried, however, that I’m going to sue the school for allowing something like this to happen in the first place. Don’t you have hall monitors? Don’t you instruct teachers to step in when they see something like this start? My daughters told me that another student of yours, Lena Luthor, was being harassed in the hallway and you better _pray_ that _her_ parents don’t sue, because they could take you for everything that you have. They have a lot of connections and their _son_ is the least of your worries, but he is definitely somebody you should worry about.” She leans back in her chair and locks eyes with the man in front of her. “Lex Luthor loves his younger sister. He would do anything before and he’s not exactly the most forgiving person in the universe. You better hope he doesn’t hear about how you let this happen.”

“Are you threatening me, Mrs. Danvers?”

“Of course not,” Eliza says, putting her hands up in surrender. “I’m _warning_ you. Because while I’ve never met Lex in person, I _have_ worked closely with Superman and, from what he tells me, the man isn’t somebody you want to mess with. Neither is his mother.” The principal’s face is white and Eliza feels a sick sense of pleasure at that. It’s not something she’s familiar with and she takes a deep breath, leaning forward. “Look,” she says, “you know whose fault this entire altercation is. You know my daughters and Lena and Maggie…they’re not the ones to blame. This Harrison kid needs to be dealt with. I don’t care who his parents are; he should answer for his actions. Otherwise, he’s going to think he got away with it and he’ll do it again. And you really don’t want to cross Lillian Luthor a second time, do you?” He shakes his head and Eliza nods, standing up. “Good,” she said. “Now, no suspension for kids; agreed?” He nods. “Or Maggie Sawyer.” Another nod. “Or Lena Luthor.” Nod. “You can give Maggie and Alex a couple days of detention for what they did to that boy’s face; I don’t exactly want them to be encouraged by this. But he gets at least two days’ suspension.” He wavers. “He broke Maggie’s nose,” she reminds him. “That’s the least of his worries if her father gets his hands on him. And you.” The principal’s eyes widen and Eliza throws up her hands. “Not threatening,” she said. “Just warning. My husband wouldn’t be happy with the situation, either.”

“Fine,” he said. “He gets two days of suspension. Is that all?”

“Not yet,” Eliza says. “I want a written apology, to all of my girls. I want him to address each of them and explain what he did wrong and how he plans to improve his behavior. I want it by the end of his suspension, too. Got it?” The principal nods. “Good. That’s all. I hope to never see you again…under these circumstances, at least.” She reaches out to shake his hand.

“Likewise,” he says, before letting her go.

Eliza gives him one last polite smile before strutting out of the office. All four girls look up at her as she exits out into the hall and she looks down at them with a frown.

“Kara, Alex,” she says, “you’re both grounded for the rest of the week.”

“What?” Alex exclaims. “But, Mom, I—”

Eliza puts up one hand, stopping her. “I know,” she says. “But I’m not about to encourage fighting, whether it be for self-defense or not. So, grounded. You and Maggie will also be serving detention.”

“Seriously?” Maggie moans, her shoulders slumping.

“You’d rather be suspended?” Eliza asks.

Maggie’s eyes widen. “No,” she says, “detention’s okay.”

“Thought so,” Eliza chuckles. “Your parents should be here soon, Maggie. Lena, sweetie, your mother or Gerta might be coming by, but I don’t think you have much to worry about, okay? Kara, Alex, you’re coming home with me. The day is almost over.” The girls nod and stand up. Alex leans down and presses a kiss to Maggie’s lips, smiling at her as she pulls back. Eliza doesn’t miss the kiss Kara places on Lena’s cheek as she stands as well. She smiles and pretends she didn’t see anything as she places her arms around her girls’ shoulders and leads them down the hall.

“Don’t be so upset about your punishment,” she says, rubbing their arms. “It’s already Wednesday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kisses, not stitches. Don't bully, but also never pass up a chance to stand up for the little guy. Especially in the current climate.
> 
> Never stop fighting. #Resist


	16. Valentine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A V-Day treat for my wlw and Lucy/James shippers. (mostly WLW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is gonna get cheesy

**Valentine’s Day**

Kara is in the middle of writing her essay on _To Kill a Mockingbird_ when her door bursts open and Alex spills into the room, causing the blonde to turn away from her computer with raised eyebrows. She checks her watch. “Is dinner ready?” she asks. “It’s only four.”

“No,” Alex says, shaking her head and running her hand through her hair. It’s longer now that the sides of her mohawk have grown out. The green streak falls over Alex’s left eye and she attempts to blow it away. “I need your help,” she informs Kara.

“With what?” Kara asks. “Do you need to hide a body?”

“What? No!” Alex laughs. “Where’d you get that from?”

Kara shrugs. “TV?”

“What kind of—you know what? Never mind. Just don’t let Mom find out, because then she’ll blame _me_.” She rolls her eyes and flops down onto Kara’s bed with a sigh. “How much do you know about romance?”

“Not much,” Kara admits. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, remember? Plus, I’m twelve.”

“Yeah, but don’t you and Lena watch all those stupid romantic comedies? Didn’t you learn anything from them?”

“I learned that if the girl you love is about to get on a plane, you should go to the airport and confess your love for her. Then she won’t go. Also, flowers make everything okay, apparently.”

“Flowers,” Alex says, nodding. “Flowers are good. What kind of flowers do you think Maggie would like?”

“She’s _your_ girlfriend,” Kara huffs. “And you’ve known her for, like, ever. You never asked her what her favorite flower is.”

“It doesn’t really come up, Kara,” Alex replies. “We talk about bands and stuff, you know? And basketball. And we make out. Like, a lot.”

“Eww!” Kara whines, pressing her hands to her ears. “TMI, Alex!” She sticks out her tongue and her sister laughs.

“What? Don’t you have somebody you like to make out with?” she teases.

Kara flushes bright red and looks down at her lap, her fingers playing with the hem of her skirt. Alex frowns and sits up, her eyebrows knitted.

“What’s wrong?” she asks. “Did somebody kiss you without your permission or something? Because, if they did, you can tell me and I’ll—”

“No!” Kara exclaims. “Nothing like that. I just…” she looks away, biting her lip.

“Kara, what is it?” Alex asks, standing up and making her way towards her sister, kneeling down in front of her, trying to meet Kara’s lowered gaze. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“When did you first know that you like girls?” Kara asks, finally, looking down at Alex with wide, blue eyes.

Alex shrugs. “Last Christmas Eve?” she says. “I mean, I always kind of wondered why I never had crushes on guys like most of the other girls and why holding Maggie’s hand made me so…” she shrugs, smiling at the phantom touch of her girlfriend’s hand on hers. “I realized, first, that I liked Maggie, when I saw her kiss her cousin’s friend and I was _so_ jealous.” She huffs out a laugh. “I wanted to punch him. That’s when I realized that I liked _her_ and I thought…I thought it might be an isolated thing, you know? Like I was just in love with Maggie and nobody else. And I was, you know? I still am. I hope I always will be. But I do like girls. I had a crush on Vicki Donahue for a while when I was still denying my feelings for Maggie and I kind of started to accept that part of myself. It terrified me, but I got through it.” She smiles softly at Kara. “Girls are nice, you know? Soft and they smell kind of…sweet. And they are _very_ pretty, don’t you think?”

Kara smiles shyly and nods, pushing up her glasses. “Yeah,” she says. “They are.”

Alex tilts her head to the side—a habit she’s picked up from Maggie—and narrows her eyes. “Are you thinking of one girl in particular?” she asks, knowingly. “Maybe one with long, dark hair and green eyes.” Kara’s cheeks turn a brighter shade of red and Alex laughs, poking her knee. “You _are_ , aren’t you?” Kara shoves her shoulder and Alex falls back with a hard thud. “Ouch.”

“I’m not sorry,” Kara huffs, crossing her arms over her chest and turning around. She presses her lips together in annoyance.

Alex just laughs and pushes herself back up. “Aw, come on, Kar! It’s so obvious that you and Lena like each other! You’re never apart.” She smirks at her sister’s back and waits while Kara processes her words. Slowly, she turns around, her eyes wide.

“You…you really think Lena likes me back? Like…like _that_?”

Alex lifts one eyebrow and gives her a deadpan expression. “Duh,” she says, flatly, then her lips spread in a wide grin. “That girl has had the hots for you since you were, like, seven. You’re just too oblivious to see it.”

“I am _not_ oblivious!” Kara grumbles, pouting at Alex.

Alex rolls her eyes and scoffs. “Oh, please,” she says. “For somebody with X-ray vision, you are the most obtuse person I know, Kara.” Her smile turns gentle as Kara’s pout deepens. “You should tell Lena how you feel. I can pretty much guarantee that she feels the same as you.”

“You promise?” Kara asks, hope flooding her face.

“If she doesn’t, then you can spend V-day with Maggie and me.” _Why would you do that? Maggie is going to kill you._ “I swear.” _RIP Alex Danvers._

“Okay,” Kara says, with a sigh. “I’ll…I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

“You should buy her flowers,” Alex suggests. “Or, like, donuts, because those are way cheaper.”

“A bouquet of donuts?” Kara giggles. “Really?”

“Kid, you could give her a bag of _trash_ and she’d love it because it came from you,” Alex replies, standing and pulling Kara to her feet. “But, just in case, let’s go see about those donuts and flowers. Hmm?” Kara nods and allows Alex to tug her out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

“You know,” she says, after a long moment, “you could do the same, for Maggie.”

“What?” Alex asks, turning to look down at her.

“You could get her _anything_ and she would love it,” Kara clarifies, “because it came from you. And she loves you.”

Alex pauses then, her face blooming bright red as they stop at the bottom of the steps, just feet away from the front door. “You…you think she loves me?”

“Of course she does,” Kara huffs. “You two have been best friends for, like, _ever_.”

“Yeah, but…but this is a different kind of love, Kara,” Alex sighs. “I mean, I know that I love her like a friend, because she’s literally been my best friend for _years_ , but…I also kind of love her in that romantic, _forever_ kind of way, you know?”

“Like in the movies?” Kara asks, a little breathily.

“Yes, Casanova,” Alex snorts, shoving at her shoulder. Kara doesn’t budge an inch, obviously. “We haven’t said it yet, though. I think we’ve both been…waiting. But maybe we waited too long?” Kara can see the fear etched in Alex’s eyes and she reaches out, taking her hand.

“Better late than never, right?”

Alex grins and nods. “Yeah,” she says. “Right.” She takes a deep breath. “So, come on; let’s go get our girls some gifts.” She tugs on Kara’s hand again, pulling her out the front door. Despite the essay that’s still waiting for her on her desk upstairs, Kara doesn’t resist.

* * *

The next morning, Kara finds Lena waiting for her at her locker. The dark-haired girl gives her a dimpled grin as she approaches and Kara finds herself smiling back, brightly, her hand tightening around the box she’s holding. She hadn’t expected to see Lena so soon, but the other girl’s eyes are shining at her and Kara feels her heart flutter in her chest as excitement runs through her veins.

“Hey, Lena,” she greets, her voice and her smile both soft.

“Hello, Kara,” Lena replies, her cheeks pink now. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” There’s something in her voice that Kara can sense and she wonders why she never noticed it before. The way that Lena is looking at her, her green eyes practically sparkling and her smile wide, her dimples apparent. She must have been blind before, but now she can see everything written, clear as day, on her best friend’s face.

“I-I have something for you,” Kara says, holding up the box in her hands.

Lena’s eyes widen. “You do?” she asks, looking down at the box in Kara’s hands. She smiles brightly. “I do, too.”

Kara’s heart flutters again as Lena reaches into her backpack and pulls out a crumpled bouquet of violets and Kara’s face turns beet red because she knows _exactly_ what that means.

* * *

_After placing her order for Lena’s donuts—which would be ready for pickup tomorrow, before school—Kara follows her sister a few doors down to the florist shop, which is full of sweet-smelling and beautiful flora, surrounding them as they step inside. Kara’s heightened sense of smell overwhelms her a little bit, but the colors are pretty and she reaches out, stroking a few soft petals and smiling as her sister pulls her toward the counter, where a woman stands, cutting the thorns off a few roses. She smiles as they approach._

_“Hello, cuties,” she greets, sweetly. “What can I help you with today?” She has a deep Southern accent and a single dimple in her left cheek. Her eyes are cornflower blue and her smile is slightly crooked, but she’s pretty, Kara thinks._

_“Um, I kinda…need flowers,” Alex tells her, her face turning bright pink._

_“Well, I kinda figured that part out,” the woman teases. “But what_ kind _of flowers do you need? Who’re you buying them for?”_

_Alex bites her lip and looks down at her feet, taking a deep breath. Kara squeezes her hand and gives her a comforting smile. Alex gives her one in return and looks back up at the lady, smiling shyly. “I need flowers…for my girlfriend,” she says, slowly. She presses her lips together as she waits for the woman’s response, expecting any moment to get kicked out of the shop and probably get called a rude name that she’s heard at school several times before._

_But none of that happens._

_Instead, the woman’s smile widens and she nods, placing the roses down on the counter and stepping away, walking around it and motioning for the girls to follow her. They do, still holding hands, and she guides them to a section of the shop with vibrant purple flowers. She plucks one of them and holds it out to Alex._

_“Do you know what this is?” she asks._

_“Viola,” Alex replies. “A violet.”_

_“That’s correct,” the woman responds. “And do you know the significant history of violets?” Alex shakes her head. “Well, they’ve been used a lot in Greek mythology to symbolism love between women;_ romantic _love.” Alex flushes at that and the woman grins. “They were also very popular in the 20 th century, when this kind of love was frowned upon. It still is a little bit frowned upon, but we can be a little more open now, can’t we?”_

_Alex’s eyes widen at that and she stares up at the woman, whose red hair is short and curly and falls over one eye. “_ We? _” she asks. The woman nods and holds out her hand, showing Alex and Kara the silver wedding band._

_“I married my girl back in August. It ain’t legal, but we don’t really care too much about the paperwork. She’s mine and I’m hers and that’s all that matters.” Alex feels her heart swell at that, hope rising in her, washing over her like a wave. Could she have this kind of thing with Maggie? Could they be married—even if it never became legal in California—and happy? Could they spend the rest of their lives together?_

_Before it seemed impossible, but now…now Alex can’t help but imagine herself, a successful doctor, coming home to her beautiful wife after a long day. Maggie would probably be a scientist or something, and they would talk about their days at the lab or the hospital and they would maybe have a dog and it would be…perfect._

_“That’s so romantic,” Kara breathes, her eyes twinkling._

_The redhead laughs. “I suppose it is,” she says. She turns to Alex. “Should I prepare a bouquet?”_

_Alex nods, smiling up at her. “Yes,” she says. “Definitely. Does it…does it come with a card?”_

_“You betcha!” the woman says, pulling out a few more flowers and grouping them together as she returns to the counter. “What’s her favorite color?”_

_“Green,” Alex says and the woman’s eyes flicker to the streak in her hair. She smirks and pulls out green paper, wrapping it around the bouquet and tying it up with a purple ribbon._

_“Do you have somewhere cold you can keep these until tomorrow?” she asks._

_“You mean like a refrigerator?” Alex asks._

_“Yes, but one that will allow the flowers to breathe and keep their scent. You don’t want your violets smelling like meat, do you?” Alex shakes her head and the woman laughs. “Alright, well I can keep them here overnight, so long as you return tomorrow morning to pick them up. Can you do that?” Alex nods. “Good. Now, go on and write your note.” She slides a white card with a big red heart on it towards Alex and hands over a pen. “I’ll just go put these in the back.”_

_Alex nods and picks up the pen, opening the card and looking down at the blank space before her. She takes a moment to think before she clicks the pen open and presses it to the paper. Kara reads over her shoulder, her smile growing with each word that her sister writes._

_It's perfect._

* * *

__

“Sorry they’re so wrinkled,” Lena says, drawing Kara out of her thoughts. “I was trying to keep them a surprise.” She holds the bouquet out towards Kara and the blonde takes them, juggling the box in her opposite hand as she raises them to her nose, inhaling deeply. Kara smiles, a wide smile appearing on her lips.

“They’re beautiful, Lena,” she says, her voice filled with emotion. “Thank you so much.”

Lena blushes and looks down at her feet. “It’s no big deal,” she says, bushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “So, what do you have there?” She motions at the box and Kara feels her entire body flush.

“Oh,” she says, “it’s kind of silly, now that I think about it. Nothing like your flowers.” She shrugs and hands the box to Lena, before pressing the flowers to her chest in anticipation.

“I’m sure whatever it is is just…” Lena trails off as she opens the box and sees the contents, her eyes widening.

Kara watches her and bites her lip, feeling the paper crinkle in her hands as Lena processes what she’s seeing. Lena looks up at Kara with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She’s silent and Kara starts to ramble. “You see? It’s stupid. I should have…I should have gotten you something else. I mean, I know that _I_ like donuts, but you aren’t as big on sweets as I am and that’s totally okay, but I _really_ should have known. I’ll…I’ll get you something else, I promise. It was just…really dumb of me.”

“Kara,” Lena practically whispers, a smile blooming on her lips. “Kara, it’s perfect. But…do you…do you really mean it?” Her green eyes are full of hope and Kara can’t help but smile.

“Of course I do,” she says. “Would I ever lie to you?” Lena shakes her head and gently places the box on the floor, before practically launching herself at Kara, her arms wrapping around the taller girl’s shoulders as she hugs her tightly. Kara is surprised for only a second before she she’s hugging back, one hand grasping the flowers as the other wraps around Lena’s waist. Despite being a year younger than Lena, she’s about two inches taller and the smaller girl fits perfectly in her arms.

When Lena pulls back, tears shine in her eyes and Kara gives her a soft smile. When Lena’s eyes flicker down to Kara’s lips, the taller girl swallows thickly and meets her eyes as they come back up. Kara presses her lips together, before leaning in, sighing as their lips meet and Lena’s arms tighten around her.

Their lips touch for only a moment before they pull away, both blushing profusely, wide smiles on their faces. Kara clears her throat and pushes her glasses up and Lena giggles, leaning into her and pressing a second kiss to Kara’s cheek, before pulling back and reaching for the donuts.

“Wanna help me finish these?” she asks. Kara can clearly see the message she’d handwritten on the top: _“I’m yours. Will you be mine?”_

Kara grins and nods, already reaching in for a strawberry-frosted donut and tucking her violet bouquet into the crook of her arm. She reaches for Lena’s hand and the girls walk together towards their first class.

* * *

Maggie is sitting on the front steps when Alex walks up, smiling shyly at her and brandishing the bouquet of violets in her hand, holding them out to Maggie, who beams back at her.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mags,” she says, laughing as Maggie hops to her feet and presses a deep kiss to her lips. “I take it you like them?” she says when Maggie pulls back.

“I love them, Danvers,” Maggie assures her, taking the bouquet into her own arms. The white card stands out among the deep purple flowers. She plucks it out, sitting back down on the steps as Alex sits next to her, watching Maggie nervously. The smaller girl tilts her head to the side as she opens the card and her eyes widen at the simple message inside:

“ _Roses are red;_  
Violets are blue.  
I’m totally  
In love with you.”

“It’s kind of stupid, I know,” Alex laughs, “but I’m not much of a writer and I think it pretty much gets the point across, don’t y—”

Maggie cuts her off with another kiss and Alex sighs, leaning in and burying her fingers in Maggie’s hair. She feels Maggie’s soft hands on her elbows, keeping her there for a few moments, before she pulls back, giggling.

“What’s so funny?” Alex asks, smiling as well. “It’s the stupid poem, isn’t it?”

“No,” Maggie says. “I love the poem. I just…you kind of beat me to it.”

“What do you mean?”

Maggie turns away and reaches into her bookbag, pulling out a CD case and handing it over to Alex with a shy smile. “I know it’s kind of cheesy,” she says, “but I made you a mix.” She turns red at the love shining in Alex’s eyes as she looks at the back of the case, where Maggie has written down the order of songs. “There’s kind of a pattern there, in case you can’t see it,” she points out.

  1. _I Will Always Love You  
_ Whitney Houston
  2. _Love Takes Time  
_ Mariah Carey
  3. _One in a Million  
_ Aaliyah
  4. _Vindicated  
_ Dashboard Confessional
  5. _Endless Love  
_ Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
  6. _You Rock My World  
_ Michael Jackson
  7. _Ordinary Day  
_ Vanessa Carlton
  8. _Unwell  
_ Matchbox Twenty



Alex understands immediately and laughs, looking up at Maggie. “You’re such a dork,” she says, before moving in to press another kiss to her lips, grinning as Maggie’s hand cups her elbows, Alex’s thumb stroking her cheekbone.

When they pull back, they’re both grinning and Maggie bites her lip, tilting her head to the side. “I love you, Alex,” she says, softly, bumping her nose against her girlfriend’s.

“I love you, too, Maggie,” Alex replies, grinning happily.

“Get a room!” they hear a voice shout at them and they turn, glares at the ready, to see James and Lucy walking up the path to the school. They share a look and roll their eyes, even as Lucy races towards them and practically falls into their laps, showing them the giant teddy bear that James had gotten her.

They coo and tease their friend as he blushes and shows them the old Polaroid camera Lucy had managed to snag at a thrift shop for a reasonable price. He kisses Lucy’s cheek and she smiles brightly and pulls them all in for a picture together. James wraps them all in his arms, Lucy on his lap and Alex and Maggie on either side of him as she positions the camera to catch all of their faces.

“Smile!” Lucy says, barely noticing her boyfriend’s lips on the crown of her head, or her friends’ fingers interlocking on her lap as the flash goes off.

They smile genuinely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day. I hope that you all have something special planned for tonight, whether you have an S.O. or not. Treat yo'self a little bit. Eat chocolate and watch your favorite movies or TV show. Or rewatch all the Sanvers scenes on YouTube. Have a nice night!


	17. Stronger Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang starts a SAGA (feat. Adrian Rodriguez and Susan Vasquez)
> 
> Trigger warning for misgendering of a trans character and violence.

**Stronger Together**

Lena’s hand is warm and soft and Kara loves the feeling of their palms kissing as they walk down the hall together. She loves the way Lena blushes whenever Kara glances sideways at her and the way she bites her lips as she watches Kara switch off her books. Kara offers to hold hers for her, but Lena refuses.

“Then you wouldn’t be able to hold my hand,” she says and Kara all but melts. And she stops herself from insisting that she can do both. Because she’s supposed to be a 13-year-old human girl _without_ unbelievable the super-strength that enables her to balance a double-load of heavy high school textbooks.

And with their advanced placement, that includes a _lot_ of particularly heavy science books.

But Kara pretends, because Kara isn’t ready to come out as an alien yet. And she lets Lena carry her own books in the crook of her arm as her opposite hand holds Kara’s and they walk as far as they can get to their classes, before they have to break away from each other. Because Lena is actually in “regular” classes with Alex and Lucy and Maggie and James. And Kara is in the “Kindergarten” accelerated classes with Winn. They always separate with a soft peck on the lips and they each ignore the catcalls from stupid boys nearby, talking about the “cute little baby gays.”

Only they use different words in place of “gay”. Crass words that grate on Kara’s nerves because they make Lena frown and blush and run as fast as she can to her next class. Kara finds herself hoping that Maggie and Alex never have to go through that—though it’s probably all in vain. The kids at this school are cruel. She wonders how a planet could _have_ so many cruel inhabitants. Especially young ones.

She’s on her way to one of her accelerated courses when she hears a familiar sound: the metallic thud of a body being shoved against a locker. Hard.

“Leave him alone!”

And Winn’s voice.

“She’s not a _him_ ,” a cruel voice laughs. “She’s an… _it_. And _it_ needs to be taught a lesson.”

“Stay back or I’ll…” Winn starts to say and Kara makes her way around the corner as quickly—and as slowly—as humanly possible, to see him standing between two tall basketball player-type guys and a small body, huddled against the lockers, shaking in fear. All Kara can see of them is the one gold earring on their left ear and the clothes that are too large, the sleeves of their shirt sliding down as they try to shield their shaved head with bruised arms.

She runs to stand next to Winn, glaring up at the bullies.

“Oh great,” one of them huffs. “Another kindergartner.”

“Go away,” she growls, throwing down her books.

“Or what? You’ll cry us to death? Go away, baby. This doesn’t concern you.” He tries to swipe her away, but when Kara doesn’t budge, his eyes widen. “What the hell are you made out of? Steel?”

“Something like that.” They all turn at the sound of the new voice, and the bullies’ eyes widen at the sight of Alex Danvers and her small group of friends. She’s flanked by Lucy Lane and Maggie Sawyer. James Olsen stands behind them, his arms crossed over his muscular chest.

“Olsen, what the hell?” One of the bullies asks and Kara suddenly recognizes him as one of James’ teammates from the basketball team. Brody Porter.

“I could ask you the same question, bro,” he retorts. “What are you doing picking on these little ass kids? Don’t you have something better to be doing? Like working on your layups.”

“Screw you, Jimmy.”

“You couldn’t handle a man like me, Porter. Now get out of here before you fail remedial physics. Again.”

“Ooh,” the girls chorus with wide grins on their faces.

Brody looks murderous, but then his friend squeezes him on the shoulder and they stomp away, angrily. As soon as they’re gone, everybody relaxes and Winn turns to the cowering kid, placing a cautious hand on their shoulder.

“You okay, Ade?” he asks. The kid slowly turns to the rest of the group, showing off his one black eye and bloody nose and Maggie gasps, rushing to his side.

“Adrian?” she asks, worriedly. “Oh my god, what did they do to you?” she checks his face and his arms, seeing the finger shaped bruises. “I’ll kill them!” She starts to rise, but the Adrian pulls her back.

“No, Mags,” he says, “I’m fine. I’m okay. This is…honestly better than it could have been.” He stands up straight and groans a little bit, holding his side.

“What the hell!” Maggie exclaims, outraged, and goes to lift up his shirt to check. Adrian stops her.

“That’s an old one,” he assures her. “It’s just healing. I’m seriously fine. I’m made of tough stuff, you know?” He grins at her and Maggie can’t help but give him a watery smile.

“Next time you call me, okay?” she says, her voice a little choked with emotion. “No matter what. You call me and we’ll all come and kick their asses, okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” Adrian laughs and Maggie kisses his bruised eye.

“Let’s get you to the nurse’s office for an ice pack,” she says, picking up his discarded backpack from the floor and supporting him with one arm around his waist. He’s a year younger than her, but already about as tall as James. She struggles a little bit, but eventually gets the hang of it, waving goodbye to her other friends as she tows the boy straight toward the nurse’s office.

James watched them with a frown. “Somebody should do something about shit like this,” he says, partially to himself.

“Like who?” Winn asks. “Queer kids are basically on their own in this school. The staff only barely _tolerates_ us. Which one of them is going to help?”

“The art teacher, Miss Jefferson,” James points out. “Isn’t she bisexual?”

“Either that or she just really likes the color scheme of the flag,” Lucy murmurs. “There’s also Mr. Rogers. He has a husband, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, he could probably help,” Alex agrees.

“But help with what?” Winn asks. “Wreaking vengeance on homophobic jerks like Brody Porter? He wears sweater vests and drinks chamomile tea.”

“What’s wrong with sweater vests?” Kara asks, pouting.

“Nothing’s wrong with sweater vests,” Lena replies in a soothing voice, squeezing her hand. She shoots a glare at Winn.

“I was actually thinking something a little different,” James says, with a small grin forming on his lips.

 

“What the hell is a SAGA?” Winn asks, looking up at the handmade sign hanging above their heads in the back room of the library. Lena opens her mouth to give a smart answer, already smirking, but Winn puts his hand up to stop her. “Yes, Luthor,” he says, “I am aware of the _dictionary definition_ of the word ‘saga’, which is a long story of heroic achievement and blah blah blah. I’m just confused as to why it’s written on this sign when it’s _supposed_ to say ‘GSA’.”

“Oh yeah,” James says, “we vetoed that.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it stands for ‘Gay/Straight Alliance’ and there’s more than just gay and straight people here, man.”

“Well, what does ‘SAGA’ stand for?”

“‘Sexuality and Gender Alliance’,” Alex pipes up, from where she and Lucy are arranging chairs in a circle. “Welcome to _all_ sexualities and _all_ genders on the spectrum.”

“You really think people are going to show up to this?” Winn asks. “I don’t think there are that many queer kids in Midvale.”

“You’d be surprised,” Alex replies. “Besides, straight and cis kids are welcome, too. It’s just a way to form a kind of defense against all the bigots like Brody Porter. We’re stronger together.”

“If you say so,” Winn sighs, disbelievingly.

When the chairs are all set up, James heads to open the door and allow anybody who’d like to join the club to come in. As soon as it’s propped open, Maggie and Adrian walk in, with a trail of other kids of varying shapes, sizes, and colors following behind them. A few are familiar from their classes and the sports teams, but others Kara swears she’s never seen in her life until now. She welcomes them all with a smile, anyway, and offers them donuts and juice from the refreshments table.

When they’ve all got their snacks in hand, they take their seats, one by one filling up all the chairs in the circle. Alex and James share a grin and Maggie squeezes Adrian’s hand. Kara and Lena cuddle up together, their arms around each other as Alex stands to address the room.

“Good afternoon, everybody,” she says, “and welcome to the first ever Midvale High SAGA meeting. Here, you can be who you are without the fear of judgement, for an hour a day, every day. It’s not much, I know, but it’s more than a lot of us had before, I’m sure.” There are murmurs of agreement and Alex gives them all a sad smile. “All genders and sexualities are welcome here,” she continues, “and all are valid. Whether you are cisgender, transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, asexual, pansexual, or you just don’t know how to define yourself yet, _you_ are valid.” There are tears now and Alex takes a deep breath. “Now, for our first meeting, we are each going to share a little about ourselves. Not much. Just our names, our genders, our pronouns, and one fact about ourselves. If you wish to share your sexuality, that’s fine but it’s not required. I’ll start, if that’s alright?” She glances around the room and finds a few people nodding so she takes a deep breath.

“Great,” she breathes. “Um, so I’m sure that at least some of you know me from going to school together since, like, Pre-K, but for those of you who don’t: my name is Alex Danvers. I am a cis-female, my pronouns are she/her, and I’m a huge biology nerd, but I also _love_ chemistry. I tell my girlfriend periodic puns, like, _all_ the time.”

“It’s true,” Maggie butts in, “she totally does.”

There’s laughter scattered all around the room as Alex sticks her tongue out at Maggie. “That’s my girlfriend, by the way,” Alex adds, turning back to the rest of the group. “Because I’m gay. I’m a big ol’ lesbian.” She takes a deep breath. “It has taken me such a long time to finally admit that to myself, let alone a room full of people. It feels…good.” She takes a deep breath and sits down. “Okay, next person!” She motions to the person sitting to her right and they stand.

“Hi, everybody,” they say. “My name is Susan Vasquez and I’m cool with being called Susan, but I, like, _highly prefer_ being called Vasquez, just fyi. I’m, um, nonbinary and I’m good with most pronouns, but there are some days where I’ll strongly prefer one over the others and I’ll let you know when that happens, alright? Um, I like soccer. Some of you have probably seen me sitting on the bench this season, because I twisted my ankle pretty badly during the first game, but I’ll be back in for the next one.” There were cheers for that. “Yeah. Oh, and I like girls. I wouldn’t call myself a lesbian, but I, like, _really_ like girls. Like exclusively. Thanks.” They sit down while people clap and then the next person goes up and Alex and James share another smile.

 _Stronger together_ , James mouths and Alex nods in agreement as she squeezes her girlfriend’s hand.


	18. The March

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SAGA club goes to National city for a Pride Month March and Maggie reflects on an event that changed her life recently.
> 
> Minor angst

**The March**

The crowd was thick and colorful. Kara had never seen so many pride flags waving around in the air, brilliant rainbows and pastels and neons and just… _wow_.

Despite the fact that she was thirteen—and just had her bat mitzvah—Alex insisted on holding her hand as they struggled through the crowd to get to the street. But Alex was also holding Maggie’s hand and Maggie was holding Adrian’s and Adrian was holding Vasquez’s hand, and Vasquez was holding…

Well, you get it. The entire SAGA club had raised enough money from bake sales (Kara’s idea) and donations to buy train tickets to National City for the Queer Pride Parade. Kara was amazed by all the queer people and allies, of all ages, that were gathered for this event. She’d never seen so many proud bisexuals in one place before. It made her heart glow and she found herself almost floating as she followed her friends to the street barriers.

As they walked through, adults in pride colors smiled down at them and a few even gave the kids high fives and fist bumps and pats on the back, congratulating them on their ‘bravery’. Kara didn’t really think she was all that brave. She was just in love.

She looked behind her at Lena, who was holding her hand as she walked at the tail end of the procession. Lena smiled back, her cheek covered in rainbow glitter. Her parents had forbade her to come to the march, certain that her dating a _girl_ was just a phase that she was going through—and not one that they were prepared to support. But Gerta had vouched for her, lying to the Luthors about where Lena would be that day, telling them that she had been invited to see a play with a few private school kids instead.

Somehow, Lillian and Lionel Luthor, as smart as they were, bought it.

When they finally got to the barriers, the kids lined up and began to cheer, waving the tiny flags that were handed out to them and blowing kisses to the ‘Dykes on Bikes’ as they drove by. Alex and Maggie geeked out over the shiny vehicles, pointing and talking about which ones they would buy when they finally had the money.

James lifted Lucy up on his shoulders and she waved her bi flags wildly in the air, cheering and whooping and making a happy fool of herself. Vasquez did the same with Adrian, lifting the smaller boy up so that he could watch as a group of transgender individuals walked down the street, all holding hands and smiling proudly. He shed a few tears as one of the trans male individuals broke off from the group and came right toward him, giving him a high-five and a pin with the transgender flag colors on it, which read “You are VALID” in big black letters. He handed one to Vasquez, as well, giving them a fist bump and blowing a kiss, before returning to his group.

Maggie’s eyes drank in every single visible queer person and flag and float until her eyes were flooded with tears and she had to turn away, looking down at her shoes as the memories hit her.

* * *

 

 _She and Alex had the entire house to themselves. They could do anything they want. They could walk around naked if they wanted to (but they really weren’t_ there _yet). They could play video games in Abby’s room or jump on the bed or raid Maggie’s mother’s closet._

_Instead, they made out. Maggie sat on Alex’s lap and ran her hands through the short hair, smiling against Alex’s lips as the other girl rested her hand on Maggie’s hips. She brought her fingers down to stroke Alex’s neck, sending shivers down her spine. She felt the urge to grind herself against Alex’s lap, so she did, letting out soft moans at the sensations it sent through her._

_“MARGARET!”_

_Maggie jumped back and fell off of Alex’s lap, landing on her ass on the hard, wood floor, her eyes wide with shock as she looked up at her father._

_“Papi?” she said, choking a bit on the word. “Wh-what are you doing home?”_

_“I should be asking_ you _the same question!” he boomed. “What is_ she _doing in my house? Do you think it is right for you to be doing what you were doing here? How many times have I told you that that girl is not welcome here?”_

_“Mr. Sawyer,” Alex said, standing up and putting her hands up in surrender. “I’m so sorry. I meant no disrespect. I was just.”_

_“Leaving,” he growled. “Both of you. Get out of my house.”_

_“Papi?” Maggie asked, her voice small and quiet. “What do you mean?”_

_“I mean,” he said, “that I want you out. Go get your things and leave, Margaret. You obviously have no respect for me and my rules, so you are no longer invited to live here. Leave.”_

_“Papi, please!” Maggie started to sob, taking a few steps toward her father. Mr. Sawyer backed away, holding up a hand to stop her._

_“Just go,” he said. “I want you and your things gone by the time I return from work.”_

_With that, he walked out._

* * *

 

“Mags?” Maggie jumped at the voice in her ear and looked up and Alex, who was giving her a look of concern. “Are you okay?” she whispered, barely audible over the thunderous cheering.

Maggie forced a smile and nodded, grabbing Alex’s hand.

“I’m fine,” she said.

But she was not fine.

After her father had kicked her out, Maggie had had nowhere to go except the Danvers’ residence. It was one of the few times that Eliza Danvers had been home from the lab and she smiled at first glance of her daughter and her girlfriend, only to frown when she saw the suitcase that Maggie was holding in her hand.

“What’s going on?” she had asked and Alex told her everything, while holding Maggie’s hand. How her father had flown off the handle after seeing them kissing and how he had subsequently kicked his own daughter out of the house. How he had told her to grab her things and leave.

“Can Maggie stay here for a while, Mom?” Alex begged. “Please? Just until her dad stops being mad at her or…or she graduates high school? She had nowhere else to go.”

Eliza considered the now-homeless girl for a long moment, before nodding.

“Of course she can,” she said. “There’s an extra bed in Kara’s room. You can stay here as long as you’d like; as long as you need to.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Danvers,” Maggie murmured, looking down at her shoes, embarrassed.

She felt the older woman approach her and then felt soft fingers under her chin, tugging it up so that they could meet, eye-to-eye. “Eliza,” she said. “You can call me Eliza.” She shrugged. “Or mom, if you feel comfortable with that.”

Maggie’s face crumbled and she wrapped her arms around Eliza, crying into her chest, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. She felt Alex come up behind her and wrap her arms around the both of them, kissing Maggie’s temple.

For the first time in over a year, Maggie felt like she had a real, safe home.

Maggie felt herself being lifted and blinked out of her memories, laughing as she found herself on Alex’s shoulders, right next to Adrian and Lucy, and just above Lena, who was now on Kara’s shoulders. Like the rest of them, she began to cheer and smiled brightly, catching rainbow leis as a group of transgender women threw them into the crowd. She clapped her hands and help up the ASL sign for “I Love You”

She finally had a family again and though they were not at all related by blood, she couldn’t have been happier about it.

**Author's Note:**

> This will follow them through middle and high school, as well. Kara will be in the next chapter. As will Lena ;)


End file.
